Red Riding Hoodies and Teenage Wolves
by CompYES
Summary: Fate throws Harry Potter for a loop yet again when he finds himself imprinted on by a teenage shifter while on vacation. HP/SC HIATUS
1. Vacation

Red Riding Hoodies and Teenage Wolves

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Warnings: Slash malexmale, Underage, Language, Possible Adult Situations, Violence  
Spoilers: Up to Eclipse but non-mixy with Breaking Dawn (though some elements may be incorporated). All of Harry Potter but throw out the epilogue.  
Summary: As much as Harry Potter tries to unmeet the young, too young, Seth Clearwater, he realizes that he can't fight fate or a stubborn teenage shifter. HP/SC  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Twilight.  
AN: I've never done slash, underage, or sex (not sure if I will, but I'll warn you and change the rating) before, so this is really new ground for me. But this paring sort of calls to me in a demented way. The timeline is supposed to match up making Harry about 27 and Seth 15 or 16. There won't be perfect continuity between all of the parts, since the chapters will be written in a short one-shot like fashion.

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Vacation (_Is Supposed to Be Relaxing_)

That's what it started out as. A simple vacation out to the middle of nowhere America. He of course wasn't irresponsible enough to leave without telling anyone where he was going. No, that would result in wizarding world wide panic the likes of which he didn't want to think of. It was a horrifying scenario and the only way it would end would be in them conducting a crazed manhunt for him with Ron and Hermione leading the posse dragging him kicking and screaming back to England. So he told a grand total of three people.

Kingsley, as the minister and his boss, was on a need to know basis to approve his two month long vacation. With Andi, he wouldn't feel right not letting her, and by extention his beloved Godson Teddy, know where he was in case they had an emergency. Finally, there was Luna, who as expected simply reacted to this news with a serene smile and well wishes.

All affairs in order, Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, savior, head auror, etc, etc, had boarded a plane with sights set on quiet, rainy little Forks, Washington, a town that boasted a tiny population and seemed delightfully withdrawn from all things magical. There, he could rough it out like a muggle, without worrying about tracking down any rogue wizards, dealing with overprotective friends, or dodging persistent paparazzi (who even after a decade, would not leave him alone). It sounded too good to be true.

It was.

Too good to be true that is.

A week into living in Forks, he'd run into a vampire in the woods of the non-friendly variety and was forced to break his "no magic while on vacation" policy to defend himself. The encounter was too close for comfort. He was sure that the only reason he survived it getting the jump on him was that it was just too young and dumb and clumsy. Though he should've taken this as a sign to maybe leave, he decided instead to avoid the woods. Also, he made a reminder to himself to keep a closer eye out for disappearances in town in case there were more terrorizing the populace that he'd have to call in to the American ministry or dispose of himself.

Luckily, after that instance, there were no signs of vampire attacks.

As a way to relax and relieve himself of the tension that vampire business had caused him, he'd decided to find a hobby to get his mind further off of stressful things and get to mingling with the other inhabitants of Forks. He'd had the misfortune of bumping into a bouncy, overbearingly enthusiastic woman putting up fliers advertising yoga classes at the nearby market. Not knowing what he was getting himself into outside of wanting her to just leave him alone, he agreed to go and signed up and paid for the six week session. With a little trepidation, he showed up to his first class that Saturday morning.

Harry didn't know the first thing about yoga and being the only male to show up to the class garnered him a lot of excessive attention from all of the women who threw themselves at him for the chance to help out the hot, new guy in town. One of the girls, short hair, copper skinned, was particularly ferocious in her attempts at vying for his attention. Every time he took his eyes off her, the minute they returned she was in his personal space making _accidental_ physical contact with him. His days as a Hogwarts celebrity came in use as he maneuvered away from the clutches of women who wanted to eat him alive.

When the end of class came around, he was a little put out besides being relieved. Yoga, especially the meditating part, was refreshing despite the disruptive advances of his fellow classmates. Just as he was pulling on his red hoodie while politely pretending to listen to whatever the girl - Leah the girl said her name was - was trying to say to him, someone came into the room, freezing in the doorway.

Green eyes met black eyes.

Strange feelings began to wash over Harry the minute he saw the boy standing there, staring back at him in awe and adoration. It was akin to what he felt the first time his phoenix feather and holly wand was placed in his hand. There was some kind of deeper connection going on here. Even in the throes of this experience, a part of Harry Potter was inwardly cringing at it all.

Only he could go on vacation and run into vampires and form soul bonds with random strangers in Forks, Washington.


	2. SNAFU

Red Riding Hoodies and Teenage Wolves

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SNAFU (_What Did You Expect?_)

_"Come back here you son of a bitch!"_

There was an explanation for this somewhere. He had to think hard about it as he leaped over a bike rack, wondering vaguely whether or not he should take offense to the slight against his mother. At the moment it wasn't really his concern, he had more pressing things going on. It wasn't like she knew that he'd been orphaned as a baby or that his mother had been a hot button for him all through his teenage years. With ministry provided counseling, he'd gotten better about that.

Not what he was supposed thinking about right now.

Currently Harry found himself running like hell from a severely pissed off girl. He didn't really know why. It had been so normal earlier. Well, as normal as a lone guy in a yoga class being hit on by all the other women could be. Suddenly, he was forming soul bonds with strange boys who walked into said yoga class and the girl who'd been trying to hit on him turned homicidal. She'd been looking back and forth between him and the boy with muted horror before that dark twisted look began to spread across her face promising him an enormous amount of pain and torture. That was all the warning he got before high tailing it out of there once she decided to put her evil plans in motion.

With only one backwards glance as he breezed past the dazed teen.

Anymore and he was positive he'd have been over taken by Leah who was actually gaining on him despite his daredevil attempts to put some distance between him and her. Harry had always prided himself on being pretty quick from all his years of escaping one bully or another whether it be on the schoolyard or on the battlefield. Here was some girl putting all that practice, and almost getting run over by several cars, to shame. Either she was just freakishly fast or he was starting to get out of shape. It was totally unfair.

He yelped a bit when he felt her fingertips barely brush along his spine, as if she had almost had him in her grasp. She was too close. There was no way he was getting out of this now, he guessed. For his own sake, he hoped this was all just a misunderstanding. A big misunderstanding that he could fix before the next yoga class because he really wanted to get along with his fellow yoga mates, even if they were all terrible flirts. Class synergy would be more productive in the learning process, and having Leah be this angry with him was a step in the wrong direction.

Resigned to the fate of falling into the claws of the beast, he didn't expect being saved at the last minute. Nor did he expect his savior to be the boy from earlier. He had his arms wrapped around Leah's midsection holding her tight as the girl snarled at him from where she was being held. Harry couldn't tell what he was saying as he whispered heatedly into ear. All he knew was that this situation was really getting out of hand. He couldn't take this right now.

Harry bolted.

His eyes darted back and forth for a deserted somewhere to duck into. There was a coffee shop ahead and he immediately dove in. Inside, he quickly asked the guy behind the counter if they had a bathroom. When he got the affirmative he made his way to the back where he'd been directed. Once completely out of sight, doors of the bathroom stall securely locked behind him, he apparated on the spot back to his crappy little motel room. Instantly, his knees buckled sending him sprawling onto the bed. His mental state was a mix of anxiety, relief and a little bit of motion sickness he always experienced after apparating.

This was insane. This was really bloody insane. He didn't know what he was going to do about all of - well, _this_. The soul bond he'd created with this unwitting, muggle teenager was turning into an enormous problem and it had barely even been ten minutes since it had occurred. What little he knew about soul bonds was sketchy beyond signs that one had been formed and the types of soul bonds. He didn't even know what type he'd created, and he had a sneaking suspicion telling him he probably didn't want to.

Still, he needed a second opinion on this. If there was one thing Harry had learned in the past, it was better that he fully understood the situation and that he had someone who could be standing right over his shoulder ready to offer some advice and support. Or at least tell him when he was being an idiot. There was only one person he could trust to keep this (mostly) discreet and offer him a wealth of information on soul bonds. Sighing, he pulled the motel phone close and started dialing the number.

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AN: Can someone please tell me if I got the terminology for apparition right?


	3. Silence

Red Riding Hoodies and Teenage Wolves

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Silence (_Unsettles More that Comforts_)

_Ba-bump_

His arms tightened, it was all he could do to not to release her right now. Leah was fighting him like her life depended on it. On any given day, he may not have been able to hold her back. Especially with the way she was thrashing right now, her height giving her the slightest advantage on him as usual. But this time, he couldn't afford to let her run away with her temper. Not with what was at stake this time.

Ba-bump.

Seth had never thought it would happen to him. Never thought that the same thing that had happened to Sam would ever happen to him. Imprinting seemed like a nightmare that he'd sooner forget could ever happen to him. Imprinting hurt the people you loved. He'd seen what Sam imprinting on Emily two years ago had done to Leah. It had broken his sister in ways Seth never could've foreseen. Though he loved her no matter what, Seth for the longest time didn't know if he liked the person she'd become. Her doing yoga to help relieve her anger problems had made him hopeful that she was on her way to being better.

_Ba-bump._

Today he'd thought it would be nice to surprise her after class. He'd gotten a ride into Forks from Chief Swan, who'd seen him walking while heading back home from Billy's place. While he waited outside the classroom, he bought a couple things from the vending machine and thoughtlessly snacked until it was over. When it finally was, he let himself in once all the women except Leah had exited. All in all, it just felt very normal.

_Ba-bump._

Then Seth saw that face.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

It was everything like all the other guys talked about and more. The equivalent of all those moments in those cheesy chick flicks he watched with his mom where the girl and the guy fell in love at first sight. There was that fuzzy, golden light floating around the edges of his vision. The sensation of the world moving all around and away except for just the two of them became prevalent. He felt his heart stop and then restart faster than before. At first, he thought the thumping in his ear was his own heartbeat, but it wasn't. It was his imprintee's. Never had he thought a single sound would give him such relief, such focus. It was beautiful and unique, and he wanted to put his head against their chest and listen to it forever.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

Leah came to the conclusion faster than he did. He was too lost in the face, in the sound, to notice the mile-a-minute rush of emotions splayed across her face. She was angry, really angry. Seth imagined the only reason she didn't lash out at him first was that he was her brother, and no matter what, she loved him too and wouldn't hurt him. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the person standing next to her, Seth's new world. She was too upset to care who they were, or that even in human form she was deadly, that harming another wolf's imprint was against pack law. Leah attacked.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

The rapid tempo of the heartbeats shook Seth from his fog. His imprint was in danger. Earlier, the beat was relaxed, soothing. Now being chased by his crazed she wolf of a sister, it was hammering too fast and unevenly. Rage, unlike any he'd known before, pumped into him as he whipped around and gave chase after Leah, hell bent on stopping her. He couldn't allow her to hurt a hair on the head that now belonged to him. A disturbing thought occurred to him as he realized that he'd do anything to stop her. **Anything.**

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

It was racing. He was running. Leah was faster than him. Always faster, faster than everyone else. But she couldn't be faster this time. He wouldn't let her. His teeth ground when he saw with sharper eyes her fingers just touched. With a roar, he threw himself forward and just caught her around the waist. She railed against him, desperately trying to return to the warpath she'd set herself on. Each struggle only caused him to hold tighter, even when he was sure it was beginning to hurt her. He wouldn't release her until she stopped moving all together.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

"Leah, get a hold of yourself!"

"No!" she growled, one hand prying at his arm, the other trying in vain to reach for the figure that was disappearing down the street.

"You know the laws Leah! You can't - !"

"Fuck the laws!" she cried, pained, "I _can't _- I can't keep - I -"

_Ba-bump. Ba-Bump._

This time it was Seth who snarled. The sound felt alien as it rattled though his ground teeth.

"He is _mine!_"

"But Seth I -"

"He is mine," he repeated a little quieter this time, trying to control himself.

_Ba-bum-_

Silence.

Control was gone. Leah, who by that point had stopped struggling, fell gracelessly onto the pavement when he let go, forgotten as he shot off in the direction he remembered the man had gone down. He followed the lingering scent as far as he could. Into the coffee shop he went, as far in as he could. The trail ended in the bathroom at one of the stalls. Seth beat down the locked door with little hesitance. All the air in his lungs was pushed out of him. He couldn't breath, couldn't focus anymore without the scent or the beat of his heart. The young shifter sagged into the stall's metal frame, sliding down it before he was finally on his knees on the cold tile floor.

That was how Leah found him when she carelessly barged into the men's bathroom, the boy staring blankly at something that should've filled that empty space in front of him.

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AN: So I think I tapped into Stephanie Meyer's angst. It's weird to write that way. Seth seems so _needy_. **Gleh**. No more of this. I don't like it. Needs to be happier. I'll write from Harry next time


	4. Gather

Red Riding Hoodies and Teenage Wolves

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Gather (_Round Boys and Girls_)

The clearing grew crowded as the pack began to file in. Many of the wolves were curious as to why they'd been gathered. From what they'd gleaned from the mind link, even though it had been Sam who had called them together for the meeting, it had been at Leah's behest. Most of them were shocked that the bitter ex of their pack leader had actually approached him about something. Even Jake, who hadn't been home for the last couple of weeks roughing it out in the woods, was felt on the periphery of the link listening in. Sam's stern mental snap warning them to mind their thoughts quieted the inquiries to a dull hum of wonder and questioning.

None missed the fact that Seth Clearwater was nowhere to be seen.

Leah stood amongst them in human form, refusing to shift. She explained that she needed to tell them in human form. Honestly, she wanted to break it to them as easily as possible. If they were to take it from her thoughts and memories of the events that had occurred earlier that day, she was positive the reaction would not be colored the way it should be. She'd been angry and not in the right state of mind during the confrontation. It was the least she could do for Seth to not blow this after causing this situation. Sadness flared in her as she thought about her little brother.

Sam ducked behind a tree and shifted to his human form so that he could ask Leah what she'd called them together for. Even he desperately wanted to know what had happened to cause Leah such obvious anxiety. The others couldn't see it, but he knew her too well to miss the nervous tells of her mood. It made him even more worried considering the fact that Seth was absent at this meeting. Anyone could figure out that whatever the reason for the gathering, it stemmed from Seth not being there. Pulling on the shorts he'd brought with him, he moved back into sight facing Leah head on.

"What's going on Leah?" he demanded, his tone soft though laced with its ever-present hint of authority.

Biting the inside of her bottom lip for a second, she shakily started.

"Seth's imprinted."

All fidgeting in the clearing ceased as Sam and the wolves absorbed this news.

"Why isn't he here telling us himself? Is he with her now?"

Concern, regret, hesitance. Sam could tell she was having trouble finding the words to answer him. He didn't like the way this story seemed to be going.

"Well?"

"That's where this gets complicated. Seth's at home. He's not with _her_. He's not okay."

Fear lanced through all others present for the youngest of their number.

"What's wrong with Seth?"

"It's my fault," Leah finally moaned out mournfully, no longer caring if she broke down in front of these people, in front of Sam. It just didn't matter at all compared to Seth. Not anymore.

"Dammit Leah," Sam ground out, frustrated, "Will you just tell us what happened to him so we can fix it?"

"I was there when Seth imprinted. He'd been swinging by to visit me after my class. His imprint was there when he showed up. I knew. The second they made eye contact I knew! I'm so stupid. How could I do that to Seth?"

A crack in her throat halted any further speech. She buried her face in her hand, hiding her grief wrought expression. Unable to take seeing her so distraught, Sam moved forward to place a soothing hand on her shoulder. In her state, all she could do was lean into the comforting touch.

"What did you do Leah?" he asked as gently as he could, trying to coax the girl into answering him.

"I tried to attacked his imprint..." Leah managed to sound out at barely a whisper.

As quiet as the admittance was, with their advanced hearing, every wolf in the clearing heard it. Paul and Jared burst into angry snarls and growls with barely suppressed rage. Quil came at her menacingly, snapping until Sam was forced to use the Alpha voice to get him to stand down. Even Sam couldn't fight the feelings of disappointment he felt towards Leah right at that moment. He like the others knew that to attack another's imprint was against the laws, and having imprints themselves, knew how upset they'd be if they were in peril. It was all he could do to keep from attacking her himself, stepping away from her and getting on with his questions. They needed to know more.

"Is Seth hurt? What about his imprint? Is she alright?"

"No," Leah answered, bowing her head in shame and subservience, "Seth stopped me just in time. His imprint ran. Seth tried to catch up, but he was gone. There was no one there. The trail was dead. It was like he disappeared. Seth was so upset. He just...he just shut down. He's at home curled up in his bed staring lifelessly at the wall. I don't know how to help him Sam."

Sam nodded throughout this explanation until he noticed something strange about what she was saying.

"He?'

Wincing, she nodded.

"Seth's imprint is male?" Sam asked, stunned.

"Yes he is."

Silence fell upon the wolves again. This was a turn of events they had not expected. Most had chosen to believe what Sam had believed about imprinting. That imprinting's purpose was to match people with those most likely to pass on the wolf gene. Or at least it was meant to breed the strongest wolves. Seth imprinting on a male completely contradicted that belief. In the link, feelings of disbelief, shock, parts disgust, parts uneasy acceptance, blossomed in their minds. Sam himself didn't know what to either. He personally didn't know how to feel. All he knew was that regardless of strangeness of Seth's imprint, Seth was their pack brother. Without his imprint, he was lost. He knew that if he'd lost his Emily, he'd go mad too.

Before chaos could ensue amongst the pack over the new information, he held his had up for their attention.

"Though the situation is bizarre, Seth is in trouble. The only thing we can do to change that is to find his imprint and reunite him with them. Leah," the girl in question looked up when addressed, "What does he look like?"

"Tall, dark hair, pale, green eyes, dorky glasses," Leah ticked off the list of traits.

"Alright. Also, we need to find something with this guy's," some of the wolves' tails twitched irritably at that, "scent on it. You and I will head into town to look. Once we've found it, the rest of the pack and I will get on tracking him. Jake, if you're listening in, keep a look out for him if he happens to be out there in the woods with you."

He sighed.

"Leah, after we find his scent, I want you to stay behind," she opened her mouth to object but was silenced with a glare, "with Seth and change periodically to update us on his status. Once we have this all sorted, you understand that there will have to be some form of punishment for breaking the law?"

"Yes," she muttered.

"Everyone can go now. The search starts tomorrow, at sun up."

Howls filled the air in acquiescence.

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AN: So that's it for four. There have been questions about Harry and Seth's ages. This is the summer after the events of Eclipse. Seth is 15. The only change I have to make about ages is that Harry is actually 26 (though his birthday is coming up soon). S'all for now folks.


	5. Bonds

Bonds (_Of Love Bring Us Together_)

"Harry James Potter! How dare you run off without telling Ron or me, _your best friends_, where you were going! And you just call me up, out of the blue, no explanation, and tell me to come find you at some strange address in America? You could have at least had the decency to have called on any other night but tonight. Tonight was date night Harry. Date night! Do you know how hard it is to find people who actually want to babysit Rose? Why, I have half a mind to strangle yo- _Harry, what are you doing_?"

Staring back at his upside down friend, he couldn't work up the energy to feel any remorse for her inconvenience. He was sprawled out on the floor of his motel bathroom, his legs straddling the base of the toilet. Not that he'd felt the need to throw up anything yet, but the nausea he was experiencing made him err on the side of caution. He didn't want to get into an argument with the cleaning lady over there being puke all over the floor. She already disliked the mess he'd left the last time after trying to make some emergency draughts and made sure he knew about her displeasure. Being forced to clean carpet soaked with the contents of his stomach would surely drive the grim faced woman to homicide.

"Harry, Harry are you alright?" his bushy -haired friend asked, all anger gone as she quickly slipped into the role of mother hen.

He shook his head a little, and wondered at the way the room seemed to swim at even such a simple motion. A little bit of indignant fury managed to work its way back onto her face.

"Are you hungover then? Because I regret to inform you I don't have anything to help you with that."

"I'm not hungover," he finally had to say, sensing he was starting to get on her last nerve, "Something happened earlier. Somehow I manage to form a soul bond with some local."

Her eyes went comically wide.

"Harry, do you know how obscure soul bonds knowledge is? How are you even positive you've formed one?"

"I know Hermione," Harry sighed, "I know how unlikely this all seems. But I know this is a soul bond. I researched them a little after Voldemort's death. After unwillingly sharing one with him for most of my life, I of all people would recognize it if it happened. Again."

"Are you sure?" she inquired once more, still disbelieving.

"I am positive."

"You've been positive about other things in the past Harry..." she started uncertainly.

He shot her a glare, cutting her off, "Hermione, I am right. I called you here so you could help me try to sort this whole mess out. I know it's a soul bond, period. What I don't know is the type or the effects it's supposed to have on me and the person I am sharing this bond with. Do I have to remind you how the Voldemort thing went down again?"

The wince almost made him feel bad for being so snappish with her, but it was hard to try being civil when he was feeling this awful. Closing his eyes, he started counting up and down to and from ten in Latin waiting on her to recollect her thoughts and start with the walking textbook routine. After a few minutes, he heard her take a deep breath, which was always the sign of an oncoming lecture.

"Well, as it so happens Harry, I did the same thing you did and researched everything after finding out about your link with Voldemort. There are many types, but most tend to fall into four primary categories. The first is empathic, when a bond is formed that causes you to share your thoughts and feelings with your bonded. This is what I believe happened with Voldemort. What Voldemort did was very different from the traditional ways empathic bonds are formed. While it's true that a big event, usually magic related like an unbreakable bond, blood rituals, causes them, it isn't common for it to be formed from the creation of a horcrux fragment being forced into the other party's soul."

"That doesn't sound very much like what I've got," Harry mumbled with a grimace, noting the complex look on her face at the dismissal.

"Then empathic bonds are out. Out of the other three, two of them are unlikely as well. The first is the twin soul bond, which happens when a whole soul is split between two people. This almost always occurs in twins, regardless of being magical or non-magical, because the two parts cannot bare to be separated during the developing stages. The," she paused, "the best example I have of this type of bond is George and," she choked a little, "Fred... We have no way of telling if this is true, but, the, the closeness shared between the two as well as the "oneness" they always seemed to exude supports this theory."

Fred.

It had been a while since he thought of Fred.

Hermione pushing on distracted him from the solemn train of thought.

"The second bond I think is unlikely in your case is the familiar or companion bond. This one is actually a range of different bonds you can form with either an animal companion or with a sentient object, like our wands. I'm pretty sure your bonded is neither an animal nor a magical object. That takes that off the list leaving only..."

She trailed off.

"The last soul bond," Harry supplied for her. He already had a good idea what it was going to be.

"The last soul bond," she repeated, "Is that of the soulmate. The one person in this world who is meant to perfectly compliment you, most often in a romantic capacity. Like the twin soul bond, soulmates cannot bare to be separated once they come into contact with one another. Their inner energies (magic is one type) are drawn to each other; the more energy, the stronger the pull and gravitation towards one another. Once the bond is established, they will be hard pressed to find anyone who will make them more happy and content with life."

With baited breath, Hermione waited for her best friend's expression. He remained blank faced for the longest while. His gaze was fixed on the yellow stained ceiling, never once straying to her or anything else in the room. She felt a little perturbed when he let out a harsh laugh that couldn't possibly be happy any way. It was a little crazed, and she didn't like the sound of it at all. When finally the laughing stopped and he quieted down, he stared up at her with a wry smile, his eyes unbearably sad, pained.

"Ginny and I really were never meant to work out, were we?" he asked, and Hermione was sure that the question wasn't even directed at her.

Not really.

Harry stopped acknowledging her altogether after that. She made a quick mirror call to Ron apologizing to him again for bailing on him to take care of one Harry's messes. Ron waved it off and just told her to help their wayward friend. Promising him that she'd make it up to him double next week, she slipped the mirror back into her purse and returned to Harry's side. Lowering herself to the floor, she pulled his head into her lap and pet his hair, whispering soothing things to him for hours until sleep finally smoothed away all the hurt on his features and left only peace.

* * *

AN: There's a little broken Harry for you. Don't expect anymore. Harry is going to be more upbeat, if not a little cranky, sarcastic and exasperated. I promise though, Seth and Harry will see each other soon. Very soon. (hint wink) Also, I'm making an effort to make each chapter a little longer than the last. That seems to be the common complaint. Ta ta!


	6. Found

Found (_Is the Way I Want to Be_)

* * *

A whimper sounded in the unlit room. Seth's chest hurt. He couldn't explain how it hurt, but it hurt so bad and no words, drugs, or gestures from anyone could soothe it. Whenever his mother tried to coax him out or at least try to get him to eat something, he couldn't dredge up the strength to do it for her. Deep down, he felt terrible for putting her through this. His mother didn't deserve the silent treatment he was giving her. She hadn't done anything wrong, she was worrying over his health, trying to help him through everything. All he did was stare at the wall refusing to participate in any conversation

It had been days since he had imprinted and he hadn't seen his imprint since. He was haunted by the scared look that had been in those green eyes Seth already loved when Leah had chased him. His imprint had been scared off by his hot-headed sister. There were a lot of things he'd thought to call her after pulling that stunt, ways to make her sorry for doing that. He was trying not to give in to the rage he'd felt when she'd threatened his imprint. She was his sister after all. Unable to find an outlet for any of his feelings, all he could do was what he was doing right now, trying to feel nothing. It wasn't working though. There was always some stray thought that would make him angry. Once he talked himself out of being angry he'd deflate back into his crippling well of self-pitying misery.

He hated this so much. Not being able to do anything. Not knowing where to look to find his imprint. Instead of being out there leading the search for him, he was stuck here, too weak to even twiddle his thumbs, waiting nervously on news. The pack was out there looking on his account. Even Jake was helping out. That much Leah had told him before retreating from his room. She spoke to him from the other side of the door through a crack, tentatively updating him on the progress being made. The scent had been found all throughout Forks, but it was scattered in sporadic bursts that left no finite trail to any residence. It didn't help that even though it was the summer, Forks was experiencing its usual freak rainy weather. Their enhanced senses made it easier to pick up things, but there was no way to track something that was no longer there.

Hopelessness gripped him. Even if he wanted to leave this bed, Sam had decided for his own good to have him stay at home. Seth could barely believe that Sam had so quickly resorted to using the Alpha voice to order him to stay there. It was nothing short of humiliating, being treated like a child who didn't know how to settle his own affairs, find his own imprint. He granted them the fact that there was little he could do in his current state, but it was excessive of Sam to take away his will to go to his imprint if he so chose it. With bitterness, he couldn't help but resent Sam in that moment for trying to step into his father's shoes for him. He'd had a dad. He didn't need Sam to take care of him. Sure, he was the youngest of the pack, but he knew how to fend for himself. If he really needed help, the people he'd turn to would be Mom and Leah.

Even if Leah evoked the desire to strangle her every now and then.

From where he was lying, he could hear everything happening around the house. His mother was in the living room trying to keep herself occupied cleaning a window here or dusting a surface there. By this point, she had to have exhausted her supply of little things to stay busy doing and was just re-cleaning the already spotless house. Leah was in wolf form padding about the backyard, listening in on the pack progress. The only other sounds he could pick up were the whirring of the electronics inside and the little heartbeats and running around of the wildlife outside. Whenever there was a sound that deviated from these other sounds, it would capture his attention for a little while before he went back to ignoring it.

This time, the noise was very different. There was a distinct pop and then he could also hear a new heartbeat and a whispered word that started with s. With anxiety, he also noticed that the window on the side of the house was starting to open. It was down the hall from where his own bedroom was. How could Leah not be hearing this? Not be going to apprehend the intruder in their home. Seth went back to focusing on the intruder's presence, more specifically his heart beat. For some reason, he couldn't hear his movements or footsteps. He listened in agonized suspense to the heartbeat for a few seconds before something made him listen a little harder. It was familiar. Too familiar. Not family, not pack, but overwhelmingly familiar and unbidden, his fear left him and was replaced with contentment.

Slowly, his body began to move, as if it had only now decided to work again when days before it adamantly refused. It unfolded from its fetal position and soon he was rolled over and pushing himself into a sitting position at the edge of his bed. With bated breath he watch as the door opened and admitted the person he'd been so desperate to see.

"Hi."

A kind smile was fixed on the face of the man standing hesitantly in his doorway. The look in his bright green eyes was asking his permission to enter. Seth almost scoffed. His imprint should never have to ask his permission for anything. Whatever was in his power to give to him, he'd have.

"Please come in," was all Seth managed to croak out.

The man took tentative steps forward, kicking the door closed behind him, until he stood right before Seth. The boy could do nothing else but watch his every movement enthralled. A hand came up tenderly palming his cheek as the fingers slid into his hair. Seth felt as if in this moment, he could die of bliss. This had to be a dream. One of those weirdly romantic, sappy dreams where your lover found you out of the blue and and you rode into the sunset like in those chick-flicks Leah pretended not to watch anymore. Of course, the reality of the situation was that this whole thing was pretty unconventional. They were two guys, he didn't know his name and in the movies, you were supposed to look really good and Seth was positive he looked like shit at the moment.

He stopped thinking about the negative and reached out his arms to pull his imprint to him and wrap them around his waist in a loving embrace. He buried his head into the warm midriff and inhaled the scent greedily. If this was a dream, he was going to enjoy it until it turned back into a nightmare.

* * *

The door slammed open.

Leah burst in, mouth open in preparation for a tirade full of violent swearing. However, seeing what was going on in front of her, all will to speak left her. At her side, her mother was equally stunned by the sight of both her son holding a stranger and of her usually loud daughter at a loss for words.

"I just," the green-eyed man started before stopping, thinking better of it and spoke again, "I'll explain later."

Without another word, he pulled the unresisting Seth up with him and walked right past the two women still too stunned to do anything to stop him. After a couple of minutes, Sue Clearwater came to her senses, looking out the door than back to her daughter overwhelmed.

"Did, did some strange man just come in and kidnap Seth?" she asked, on the brink of hysteria.

With a loud, aggravated curse, Leah shot off in pursuit.

* * *

AN: Now this chapter, I liked.

SO, to set something straight. (EDIT) This will be a mostly equal relationship, though Harry will be the more take charge half. After all of the HP books, I really feel like Harry needs to be in control, he needs to take the lead. I also feel like Seth is the kind of person who'd be happy to have this kind of Harry, who is willing to guide him without out treating him like he is helpless (he knows better).

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review! Feed my review whoring. _Feed it..._

Oh, and lesson of this story, Leah is the master of ruining the moment.


	7. Lunch

Lunch _(Is a Great Way to Get to Know Your Soul Mate)_

_

* * *

_

"So, um, sorry about that."

The boy just stared back him half dazed, half traumatized.

"I probably should've warned you or something before I apparated us," Harry said ruefully, "You don't even know what I'm talking about, do you?"

He got a head shake in the negative.

"You probably want an explanation for all of that, huh?"

A more energetic nod.

"Okay, here goes." Harry took a deep breath. "I...am a wizard."

Blank stare.

"Well, you seem to be taking this pretty well," Harry commented, drumming his hands along the table top between them, "I hope it doesn't bother you too much that you and I are probably soul mates. I know it seems kind of crazy, I mean, I probably seem like a lunatic right now. I just want to stress to you that you always have the choice to say no. Kind of like how you're supposed to not let people pressure you into things, like sex. Wait, am I even allowed to talk to you about sex? How old are you, sixteen?"

"Fifteen."

"Bloody hell," Harry cursed to himself dragging a hand down his face, "This is screwed up. I am so going to hell if it exists. If being a wizard and killing someone didn't do it for me already, this will put me in the pit."

"You've killed someone?" the boy managed to squeak, sounding a little less out of his wits.

"It was an accident!" Harry immediately protested, "Totally self-defense. Both times."

Eyes went wider in disbelief.

"You've killed _two_ people?"

"Hey! I said they were accidents!" He halted, knowing it was pointless trying to keep defending himself. "Merlin, I'm doing this whole, 'getting to know you' thing all wrong. Not only do you think I'm crazy, I may also be a serial killer who has kidnapped you and plans to do all sorts of terrible things to you against your will. Brilliant! I-"

"Wait," the boy tried to interject, "I came with you because I wanted to."

"No, see that's the soul mate thing talking, "Harry argued, "It's addling your brain. Why else would you not be complaining about some strange man who might be a serial killer kidnapping you?"

"Um, maybe I should explain something to you."

"What could you possibly say to me that will make me feel any better about the fact that I've unknowingly forced you to be soul bonded to me?"

"Soul bond? My people call it 'imprinting.' And I don't know why you're apologizing. It's my fault for imprinting on you."

Harry's mouth opened a closed a couple of times.

"So you're telling me that this whole thing isn't my fault?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Oh sweet Merlin," Harry sighed, his body sagging in relief, "You don't know how happy I am to hear that. Usually I'm the one causing these kinds of situations. What is imprinting by the way?"

"Imprinting is, well, it's a long story. I kind of have to explain something else to explain what imprinting is."

"Go ahead. I have nowhere else to be today."

"I'm part of this tribe called the Quileutes who live up on the La Push reservation not that far from Forks. We have legends that describe how our people were the defenders of humans against the cold ones. Certain tribe members could transform into wolves and fight them." He stopped when he saw Harry's eyes starting to bug out. "What?"

"You're a werewolf?"

Immediately, the younger male cringed.

"No, no! That's not what I meant! I am totally fine with werewolves! My dad's best friend was a werewolf and I'm his son's godfather."

"Oh," the boy said, looking less nervous, "I just thought you thought I was kidding or crazy or something. Most people's imprint's usually think that."

"Seriously?" Harry asked, "I just told you I was a wizard. You think _I'm_ allowed to say you're crazy?"

This got Harry a laugh.

"I guess you're right. You're going to have to explain the whole being a wizard thing once I'm done."

"Sure thing. I'm still amazed you're taking it so well."

"Alright, back on track then. You've already figured out that I'm a werewolf. Well, there's this special thing that we do called imprinting. Whenever we meet the person who is meant to be our soul mate, we imprint them. Our imprint becomes the most important person in the world to us. Before anyone else; our family, friends, crushes..." he trailed off, looking a little embarrassed.

"Is it voluntary?" Harry asked, afraid of the answer.

"No."

Sadness touched Harry's features. The boy noticed quickly, his expression becoming concerned.

"It's alright," Harry placated waving him off, "I've just never felt right about having one's choices taken away from them. From what I know about the soul mate soul bond, it's really unlikely to want anyone else. I just wish you didn't feel like it has to be me."

They sat quietly observing one another for a while until Harry spoke up again.

"Hey, what's your name? Sorry I didn't introduce myself from the start, I've just been really scatterbrained. Mine's Harry."

"Harry," the boy murmured reverently, "I'm Seth."

"Seth huh? It's nice to finally sit here and talk to you without Leah interrupting us."

Seth blushed again.

"I'm really sorry about her. She's just a bit... I don't know. She doesn't like...this." He gestured between the two of them. "Having sisters can be an enormous hassle," Seth apologized, looking chagrined.

"She's probably just looking out for you," Harry said, patting the back of Seth's hand, "I've had my fair share of people trying to take too much care of me in the past."

"Do they ever stop caring too much?"

"Never," Harry replied with a knowing grin, only growing more amused when Seth groaned. His amusement soon dissolved as a more serious air overcame him, "She's right to be worried though. This soul-bond-imprint-thing is really serious. Are you actually okay with me? I mean, you're fifteen Seth. Are you even, I don't know, interested in men?"

"Are you?" Seth shot back.

"I don't know. I've only ever been interested in women. But I'm willing to give whatever this is a shot if it's what you want," Harry answered earnestly, "So stop diverting and tell me what you want."

"I want you to be with me, Harry," the shifter answered him with no hesitance, "I really don't care if whatever I'm feeling is because of the imprint. And I don't care if you're a guy or that you're way older than me. I felt terrible not having you near me and not knowing where to find you. I don't want to feel like that ever again. So I want you to stay with me. Please."

"You sure know how to say just the right thing to make a guy never want to leave." Harry chuckled. "We're going to have to take this really slow. The age thing and illegality aside, I haven't dated in a really long time. My last relationship ended really badly." He held up a hand when the boy tried to say something. "I know you're not going be like that, but I still have issues I'm working through. That's why I'm on vacation right now. So I can figure things out. We start as friends and then we work our way up. You okay with that?"

"I guess," Seth said, "But I have to be able to see you every day. Um, that is, I don't mean to be clingy. We just can't be away from our imprints."

"Whatever you say," Harry said, laughing at the boy's attempts to be nonchalant.

"So, Harry. We're at a restaurant..."

"You're hungry aren't you?"

"Pretty much."

His stomach sounding off in support just made Harry laugh all over again.

"Let me call over the waitress and we'll get you fed."

"Hey Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being really cool with this. You're more worried about what I want than what you want. The way imprinting went down for most of the other guys, it was the other way around."

Harry reached forward and took Seth's hand, making eye contact in the process.

"The way I see it," Harry said, "If you're my soul mate, this is my best chance at being really happy. And after everything that's happened to me in my entire life, I think I deserve whatever happiness I can get, even if it comes from strange places."

Any more conversation between the two was put off for later at the late arrival of the waitress, who had finally coming to take their orders.

* * *

AN: I was really scared to write this chapter. This is the first time they've talked. I wanted to do it right. This chapter has hopefully answered another question some people have posed. Yes, the HP/SC action will be a long time coming. That's not to say nothing will happen. It'll just be really fluffy for a long time. There will be more stuff going on outside of the two of them as well.


	8. Impressions

Impressions (_Are Best Made Under Much Better Circumstances_)

* * *

Seth had been having a lot of fun hanging out with Harry until this scary woman with big hair and an even bigger set of lungs on her showed up and started yelling at them. She wasn't angry with Seth in particular, all her ire seemed to instead be drawn to Harry. It took him a minute to figure out that this was Harry's friend Hermione, the one his imprint had been telling him about. She was the one who'd been helping Harry try to find him since their first disastrous meeting. Watching her chew out Harry for five minutes straight, he wondered how she managed to yell that long without needing a break. That and he wanted to know what the heck a point-me spell was. Harry had to scramble to explain himself and beg for forgiveness from her.

Now they were standing on the porch of his house, Harry having been bullied into apparating them all there. Seth had gotten to hold Harry's hand so that made up for the fact that being apparated sucked. Hermione was on Harry's other side, his ear pinched between her thumb and finger. Initially, Seth had objected to her laying hands on Harry, but Harry insisted that Hermione deserved to be angry with him considering how he'd ditched her to run off pell-mell to find him. Grudgingly, he'd allowed it only because Harry had said so. This was obviously what Harry meant by people in his life that cared too much. Harry's best friend was starting to put Leah's over protective nature to shame.

The minute they appeared on the porch, the sounds of loud footsteps thundering to the door came from the inside. It was soon thrown open and Leah and his mother shot out and threw their arms around his neck and shoulders. Reluctantly, he let go of Harry's hand to return the hug, and also to loop it around Leah. It was mostly precaution in case she decided to get crazy again, so he could restrain her. Thankfully, she made no hostile action towards Harry beyond a glare and simply tugged Seth inside. He heard his mother invite Harry and Hermione in with suppressed disdain. All three of them were lead into the sitting room where almost half the pack was gathered, all shirtless.

"Harry," Seth heard Hermione whisper, "Remind me I am married please."

"You're married to a wonderful man, Hermione Weasley," Harry acquiesced, "He's the father of your children and has many siblings who will cheerfully beat you to death with a shovel if you decide to cheat on him with a younger, better looking man in America."

"Oh good. Thank you."

In front of them, some of the guys who had heard this exchange were barely controlling their snickers. A couple "Hey Seth!"s and "Hey man!"s sounded out from the group when he came into view. He shot them a small, guilty smile, afraid to speak and draw his mother and sister's attention to him.

"Seth."

He turned to face the person addressing him. No surprise it was Sam, who had gotten to his feet once Seth had entered the room. Everyone went silent as he spoke, and tension seemed to leak into the air from all of the wolves present. The face Sam was wearing was not a pleased one and Seth knew right then he was going to be in for it.

"I'm guessing this is him," he said, subtly trying to get Seth to let him know whether or not Harry was his imprint without giving away more than he should.

The issue here wasn't Harry. Harry being told about the imprinting was allowed. Imprints were always supposed to be told about the quirks and duties of the pack. It was more Hermione that Sam was concerned about. She was an outsider in the matter, neither a pack family member nor an imprint. Sam wasn't comfortable revealing their secrets to her. The worry was in vain because not only to Harry already know, but Hermione as well. Both had been led, for the most part, to the conclusion of him and his pack being werewolves. There was no hiding the fact that they were in the know from the pack, especially because of their shared mind. With a nervous gulp, he realized he would be in a lot of trouble that he'd helped an outsider learn the truth. Deciding it was too late to try and take anything back, he lay it all out for everyone here.

"Yeah, this is Harry, my imprint."

"Seth," Sam barked warningly.

"He knows already," Seth admitted, "They both know."

There were low growls amongst the group. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry and Hermione frown at the obvious displeasure the pack was directing at Seth for helping them figure out the truth.

"We are not supposed to let outsiders know," Sam scolded, predictably, "Especially after what happened with Bella Swan. We're lucky she wanted to keep our secret, considering the company she keeps.

His jaw clenched at that comment. Everyone here knew that Seth actually liked the Cullens, the vampires that Bella had chosen over Jake. Most of the pack let their prejudice, both from vampire hating and Jake's bitterness over being rejected, color their opinions of the peaceful vampires. Still, now wasn't the time to be defending his friends, especially considering he was already on the chopping block for breach in pack secrecy. He was about to open his mouth to explain himself when he heard someone clear their throat to speak behind him.

"May I speak?" Hermione asked.

"You may," Sam allowed, curious though wary of what the woman had to say.

"Seth may have given us some clues, but for the most part, we figured it out on our own," Hermione explained, "The truth is that this is neither the first time Harry or I have been exposed to the supernatural, nor the first time we have met werewolves."

This drew many a shocked reaction from the group gathered in the sitting room.

"Impossible," Sam said, "We are the only ones of our kind."

"Also," Harry spoke up this time, "we promise we won't tell anyone if you are concerned for your pack's privacy. From what Seth's told me, I have a theory that you guys are a whole other type of supernatural creature. The werewolves we've met are a lot like the traditional werewolves you see in horror movies. Transform during full moon, lose their minds, infect people, that deal. You guys, on the other hand, have perfect control over transformations. It's kind of cool."

A proud smile fought its onto Seth's face. That had to have won Harry some brownie points. There was one thing that the wolves loved and that was praise. Many of the guys and Leah were disgruntled that they worked so hard to keep Forks safe and got no recognition for their services. He could see Jared and Paul silently bump fists when they made sure Sam wasn't looking. Glancing back over at Sam, the alpha looked at a loss for words, completely thrown by the revelation that not only did Harry and Hermione already know about werewolves, but that they may not even be really werewolves.

"So," Harry said, breaking the silence, "I might as well introduce myself. I'm Harry Potter, Seth's imprint, and standing to my right is my best friend Hermione Weasley." He held out his hand to Seth's mother who stood to his left. "It's nice to meet you."

"Harry, don't you think you're laying it on a little thick?"

"I'm just trying to make a good impression, Mione," he shot back.

"Really?" Leah sniped from off to the side, "Because in my opinion, breaking into someone's house and kidnapping them doesn't really give people the best impression."

"Hmm, you've got a point," Harry admitted, "But would you have really let me have an honest to God conversation with Seth before giving me the third degree?"

He gave a pointed look at the others in the room who been brought there and then back at her.

"And why shouldn't I? You're just some guy who came here on vacation and now you're inserting yourself into our lives. How am I supposed to trust that you aren't going to just leave and hurt my brother?"

"You and I both know that isn't the only reason you have issues with me Leah," Harry said with a sneer, his eyes narrowing.

"Okay, that's enough," someone finally intervened. Both Leah's and Harry's heads snapped in the direction the words had come from. Seth waited in anticipation for his mother to speak again.

"Sam, do you mind if you and the other boys excuse yourselves?" Sue Clearwater asked, more like demanded. Immediately, there were groans of protest amongst them as Sam started clearing them out but they did what they were told, "Oh, and Mrs. Weasley, could you as well?"

"Are you going to be alright Harry?"

The words, alone with _them _(mostly directed at Leah and his mother), went unsaid, but Seth could hear them as well as Harry could. Harry patted his friend on the shoulder reassuringly and she took that as the necessary sign to go. Soon, the sitting room was empty of everyone except for Seth, who was worried about what was going to happen, Leah, who was only just suppressing breathing fire, and Harry and his mother, calmly assessing one another. If something didn't happen, if someone didn't say something soon, he was going to die of the suspense.

* * *

AN: No real comment. Other than I think Sue Clearwater is a boss. And I wrote this while using "Teenage Dream" as white noise.


	9. Compromise

Compromise (_When There is No Other Alternative_)

* * *

"Please, take a seat," the Sue said, motioning to one of the open couches.

Glancing at Leah for a second, Harry crossed the room and sat on the two-seated couch. The minute he did so, Seth moved and took the other seat, cutting off Leah who'd intended to take it as a means to intimidate him. Both women looked unhappy by the seating, but where as the Clearwater matriarch drove it from her mind and went to take the armchair across from the two, Leah childishly wedged herself between them. Both he and Seth were forced to push up against their respective armrests uncomfortably to accommodate her. If anything, Sue's expression got even more disapproving, though it was clear to Harry that she was more unhappy with her daughter's petty antics.

"You've introduced yourself already, Mr. Potter, and I know you already know both of my children," she said this glaring at said children, who had the sense to look guilty, "So I will finish introductions myself. I am Sue Clearwater. You may address me however seems proper to you."

Harry nodded.

"What are your intentions towards my son?"

The Clearwater siblings choked on their spit in unison.

"Mom!" Seth exclaimed, horrified.

Leah's face seemed to mirror the sentiment.

"Straightforward aren't you?" Harry chuckled before quickly sobering up. "I intend to eventually date your son."

"I want to make this clear, Mr. Potter, I am not very impressed with you right at this moment. Leah is right in the fact that invading my home and kidnapping my son was the wrong move."

"That's fair," Harry said with a touch of remorse, "There were better ways to try and make sure I could speak to Seth alone."

"I also can't pretend that I like this situation. The Forks and La Push communities are small and unfortunately may not the most open-minded. At best, any possible romantic relationship you may have with Seth will result in scandal. I do not want him exposed to that kind of treatment. As his mother, I am strongly opposed to you two being together and would not allow it," Sue spoke grimly.

Seth's expression became agonized. Harry too felt dashed at what she was saying, if not for his own sake, than for Seth's. Not caring whether Leah wouldn't like it or whether it was rude to be doing it in front of Sue, he reached over Leah's lap and took his hand reassuringly, knowing the boy would need it.

"Sue," Harry tried pleadingly, "If we can't date at all, than at least allow me to be a part of Seth's life. I won't pretend to fully understand how the imprinting works or even know how I'll accomplish sticking around, but if Seth needs me as a permanent fixture in his life, than I have to be there for him. I would hate myself if I caused any distress for him by not being there if he needs me."

He stopped talking when he noticed that Sue giving him a sign to be silent. Almost indignant, he shut his mouth and waited on what she needed to say.

"You didn't let me finish. As his mother, I wouldn't allow it," Sue intoned, "But as the mother of a son who turns into a wolf to protect the people from vampires, I understand such decisions will not always be in my hands. You have become my son's imprint. This means that your lives are now forever bound together whichever way you choose, and whether or not I accept it, it cannot be undone or denied if it is what the both of you want."

"It is what I want!" Seth cried, unable to contain himself any longer, his grip on Harry's hand growing tighter.

"You don't know that Seth," Leah said, finally inserting herself into the discussion.

"I know how I feel," Seth growled, causing his sister to shrink away from him in surprise at his volatile mood, "I don't want to be separate from Harry if he's willing to be with me."

"It's the imprint," Leah weakly tried to argue, "You don't know if he's really what you want."

"There's no way we'll ever know," Harry said solemnly, "But trying to fight the imprint will only cause harm to Seth. I admit that I never expected my soul mate to be a boy or a werewolf, or to even have one for that matter, but I'm not willing to hurt him by doing nothing. It's not fair."

"And what about you, Mr. Potter?" Sue inquired, "How is this fair to you? Is this not an imposition you as well? You seem to not be taking your own feelings into account."

"That's because I don't know how I feel," Harry said frustrated, "I'm not from around here if my accent didn't already give me away and I'm too old. I understand that everything about me seems to make me the worst possible match for Seth and I still feel unsure about whether or not it could work." Harry took a second to look all three of them in the eyes. "But I like him enough already and as I told Seth before, I owe it not only to him but to myself to give this a go. Some greater power in spite of all the odds I've already mentioned thinks that we'll be able to make each other really happy. It's a little selfish but that's what I want."

"Maybe you do have some hope," Sue said, finally relaxing her stern look into a more welcoming one, "That was a good answer. If you had tried to spout off at me about true love or some self-sacrificing bullshit, I would've shown you the door. As it is, I think you've got a fairly good, if a little reckless, head on your shoulders. Even though you're not girl I expected Seth to bring home some day," Seth made an embarrassed noise, "I think with time, you really could be good for my boy."

By this point, the young shifter was so humiliated, he'd shoved his face into his sister's neck not caring anymore how poorly she'd been behaving towards him and Harry the whole time. Leah herself didn't look like she was fairing any better listening to her mother 's words. It was obvious she felt betrayed that her own mother was beginning to accept the arrangement. She had hoped that at least she'd have an ally in her to keep the Englishman from taking advantage of her brother.

"Oh, don't give me that look Leah," Sue chastised, "You and I both know that as an imprinted pair, we're going to have to accept them whether we like it or not."

"That's not the point, Mom," Leah muttered, "He is too old to be dating Seth right now. We might have to accept it, but other people won't-"

"Which," Sue said cutting her off, "Is why I have some conditions for them. For God's sake Leah, please stop interrupting me. Can you let me say what I need to before you object to it or do you need to be removed from this discussion?"

For a minute, Leah looked as if she actually weighing her options. Her mouth hung open like it was ready to start forming another stubborn argument against her mother. Eventually, she threw herself back into the couch, pouting and crossing her arms. Taking this as her daughter's tentative agreement to stay silent for the time being, Sue pressed on.

"Alright, as I was saying, I have some conditions for you boys."

"What are they?" Harry asked, the slightest bit nervous though it was mostly overridden by the appreciation he felt towards Sue for finally telling Leah to put a cork in it.

"If you two are dating now or planning to date any time soon, you have to be discrete, especially you Mr. Potter."

"I understand. You can call me Harry, by the way," Harry offered politely.

She nodded.

"And any and all forms of sexual intercourse are off the table for the next couple of years."

The glint in her eyes got steely and promised cracking out a shotgun if he did anything other than what she wished. Seth was now whispering nonsense to himself trying in vain to stop being able to hear her or even exist in the same room as the current company. Leah and Harry both looked a little queasy, Leah more at hearing the word "sex" come out of her own mother's lips and Harry because he was genuinely afraid of the woman sitting in front of him whom he had no trouble imagining killing him if he defiled her precious son. All in all, each and everyone of the cohabitants of the couch were united in their disturbed states of mind caused by the eldest Clearwater.

"So Harry," Sue continued conversationally, as if she hadn't just said something mentally scarring to the young people, "Where are you staying?"

"I-In a motel on Forks avenue," Harry stuttered.

"The Pacific or Forks motel?"

"Neither."

"Then you're staying at Bagby's?" Sue demanded sounding scandalized.

"Um, yeah."

"That won't do," said Sue firmly, "That place is a dump. You'll stay here until we can find you somewhere better to stay."

"No, no, it's okay, really, I don't want to impose," Harry tried to refuse, it was more like he'd already grown accustomed, near attached, to the crappy hotel room.

"Yeah mom, he really doesn't need to," Leah agreed while next to her Seth seemed to come back to life to at the same time ask excitedly, "Can he?"

There was no dissuading the woman as in the next minute, she had Harry by the arm and just about threw him out of her home with the express order to come back with all of his belongings from the motel. She practically slammed the door shut behind him. That left Harry standing on the porch somewhat lost and being stared at expectantly by the wolves and Hermione, who had not gone back home or to the motel like he had originally assumed they would have, to eavesdrop. Sighing, he put his face in his right hand (where it seemed to be ending up quite frequently these days) and used the other to drag a rather amused Hermione along with him as he reluctantly set out to do as Sue told him to.

* * *

AN: I hate this chapter.

But here are some fun facts I picked up while writing it:  
1. Sue's name, Susan, means lily in Hebrew.  
2. All motels listed are in fact real motels in Forks, WA. If any of you actually work at Bagby's, than I'm really sorry, I was just going off of reviews.


	10. Invited

Invited _(Cordially of Course)_

* * *

The offer to stay with the Clearwaters ended up only being extended to him for the duration of one night. For part of it, he ate dinner with them (which was in no way at all awkward) and then spent the rest of it on the couch. The morning after, he awoke to breakfast and Sue informing him on the way out to work that he could help himself to whatever food he wanted. She also dropped the bomb on him that she had found another place for him to stay. Apparently one of her friends, Billy Black, had plenty of rooms lend out to him for a while. This was, of course, in exchange for Harry helping Billy keep house. Seth had told Harry the other day about Billy's son Jacob and how he'd run away from home. The old guy didn't have anyone looking out for him at present and though everyone was concerned about Billy, no one wanted to try and bring it up with him. Harry could understand and felt a bit bad for the guy and his situation. It was a fair deal and he accepted the plan without any complaints. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't see staying under the same roof as Leah or Seth working out right now. Not until he settled things with both of them would he think about it.

That of course didn't stop the young wolf from running over to the Black residence the minute he woke up to find the house devoid of his imprint and only a little note stuck to the fridge left to explain. It was beyond hilarious to answer the door and see Seth literally pouting on the other side of it like he'd taken the kid's last cookie or something. After checking with Billy first, he'd admitted Seth in and watched as Seth tried to be helpful and do some of his chores for him. For the next two hours, the two worked in fairly comfortable silence.

Harry took the time mostly to himself to think about stuff for a while. Anything that wandered into his mind did. He'd missed one of his yoga classes, mostly due a combination of things: feeling under the weather, tracking down Seth via point-me, and avoiding strange homicidal women. The last one wasn't a new development, all things considered. There was an enormous spider hanging over Billy's front door. Later that day he'd have to shoo it away since he didn't want to kill it. Oh, and he'd promised Hermione last night to call her after forcing her to go home. That had been a chore because she'd decided being an audience to his life was better than soap operas. He'd practically threatened to mirror call Ron and tell him they were having an affair to get her to go away. She'd of course told him he was bluffing about trying to play on Ron's "nonexistent" insecurities, but left anyway.

Eventually, he stopped letting his mind wander long enough to realize that Billy was always lurking somewhere within his periphery. At first, Harry tried to shake it off as simple paranoia, but after half and hour of the two of them sneaking shifty glances at one another, Harry knew that Billy was watching him and Seth. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Sue had probably talked Billy into being a her eyes and ears over for whenever he and Seth were hanging out together. He could feel twinges of a kind of annoyance he hadn't felt since he was a teenager having Mrs. Weasley hanging over his shoulder, Hermione and Ron trying to catch them plotting to run away from the burrow and go fight Voldemort. Sure, the three of them had been doing exactly what she'd been afraid they were doing, but that wasn't the point. He was an adult and he expected people to have a little more faith in him to do, if not the smart thing, the right thing. That Sue would maybe give him the benefit of the doubt.

Snorting, he realized he'd have to hold his breath on that one. He knew that winning over Seth's family would be a chore if Leah was the litmus test. Personally, he wouldn't even trust himself if he was them. Hanging around the Weasley brood after all these years had ruined him as far as his responsible credibility went. The only thing he maintained some level of maturity in was his job as an auror. Even there, he occasionally threw professionalism to the wind and gave in to dropping thumbtacks on Malfoy's chair whenever he passed the ponce's department. God help him if Sue ever found out about his inner prankster. Then she'd really have to worry about his corrupting Seth. He paused in his work long enough to shoot a cheery smile at Billy, who immediately started fiddling with a wheel on his chair and pretending he hadn't been spying on them. Harry couldn't help the devilish smirk that tugged at his lips at knowing he'd caught the man red handed and flustered him.

"Hey Seth," he called over to the boy. His attention snapped to him the minute he heard his name, "I think we're done for today. Let's grab a snack in the kitchen. That alright Billy?"

Billy grunted his acceptance. Harry decided to not be cruel and left the door to the kitchen open so the guy wouldn't have to make up an excuse to come in and interrupt them. He grabbed a couple of the bananas sitting on the counter and tossed one to Seth. Seth caught it and took a seat at the table while Harry opted to lean against the sink. Just as he was about to strike up a little conversation, the sound of the phone ringing cut him off.

"Harry! Could you or Seth get that please?" Billy yelled from another area of the house.

"I'll get it," Harry told Seth, motioning for him to stay seated. He picked up the telephone receiver and answered, "Hello. Black residence. Who is this?"

"Um, hi," came the hesitant response from the other line. Harry noted the way Seth seemed to tense, "This is Bella Swan. I heard Seth Clearwater was there. May I speak to him?"

Hmm. Bella Swan. That was a name he'd heard once or twice yesterday. Seth had mentioned it while talking about Billy's son and Sam had said something about a Bella Swan as well last night during the meeting. Apparently this girl also knew about the supernatural. His eyes met with Seth's, who had turned around and was now looking at the phone with some apprehension. Harry nodded to the phone to see whether or not Seth wanted to take it. Seeing the shaky, yet affirmative nod, he said yes to Bella and held it out to the shifter.

"Hey Bella." He heard Seth say into the receiver. "What's up? ... No, I'm fine. Sorry I wasn't able to talk for the last couple of days. Some things came up."

His gaze trailed over to Harry shyly before refocusing back on whatever he was discussing with the Swan girl.

"Seriously, I'm fine Bella. No worries Unfortunately, there hasn't been any change on the Jake front ... Was there something else you needed?"

Harry saw Seth's eyes go very wide.

"Oh jeeze! I can't believe I almost forgot! ... Thanks for reminding me. Of course I'm going. I wouldn't want to miss your and Edward's big day. Jake's a loser for bailing on his best friend ... Hey, um Bella. Can I ask you something? ... Can I bring a, um, guest? ... Just a friend! ... The guy who picked up the phone. His name is Harry."

Said male leaned in a little closer at the sound of his name, straining to see if he could hear the response. No such luck, all Harry could pick up was garbled words that made no sense to him.

"Thank you so much Bella. And can you tell Alice sorry for me just in case this screws up any of her seating plans?"

This time, Harry could clearly hear the sound of a peal of laughter coming from the other end of the line.

"Cool. Thanks again for the invite. See you at the end of the week ... You too. Bye Bella."

Seth pulled the phone away from his ear and hit the end button. Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Harry started in on him.

"What was that about?"

"Oh, um," Seth stumbled in response, "That was Bella. She's the best friend of Billy's son Jake. She was calling to get word on him. She's been worried since he left. She, uh, also was calling to see if I was still going to her wedding."

"Ah." Harry nodded. "So you're going?"

"Yeah. Bella's pretty cool, and he fiancé Edward Cullen is pretty awesome too. I'm kind of excited to go even though weddings are usually a drag."

"Cullen?" Harry asked, his interested suddenly piqued, "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Sam mentioned them last night," Seth provided, "They're a vampire coven that lives in the area."

"Vampires?" Harry asked, startled, "But I thought your pack got rid of all of the vampires in the area."

"The Cullens are special. We have a treaty with them that as long as they don't bite anyone or cross into our territory."

"How do they feed then if they can't drink from people?"

"They drink animal blood," the wolf explained.

"Wow," Harry exhaled, "Vampires that don't drink human blood. That's a new one. And one of these vampires is planning to marry Bella? How did that go over with the pack?"

"Bad," Seth replied, "Really bad. It's why the guys don't like Bella so much right now. The way they see it, she kinda chose the vampires over us, or to be honest, she chose Edward over Jake."

Now all the pieces fit. Why Billy's son was missing and why Bella Swan seemed like such a taboo subject around the werewolves. With all of the drama and supernatural elements popping up in this story, it all felt like something out of a fantasy romance novel. Even though he himself criticized Hermione for being obnoxiously nosy (and a hopeless romantic), he could also be accused of being as curious as the cat who got itself killed all nine of its lives snooping into other people's personal lives. The chance of meeting the "tragic hero" of this drama was unlikely, but it seemed he could at least have a go at seeing the girl at the center of the love triangle and the object of Jacob Black's deep, unrequited love.

"I'm invited too, right?" Harry asked, excited and inwardly snickering at his own thoughts.

"Well, yeah, I mean, if you want to," Seth said.

"I definitely want to go. Wouldn't miss Bella Swan's wedding for the world."

* * *

Somewhere in Forks, a girl sneezed, but passed it off as nothing more than a chill before returning to angsting about her upcoming wedding and life in general.

* * *

AN: The Cullens are coming, the Cullens are coming! Some news, I'm going to leave this story alone for a week (_I know, I know, it seems like forever_) so I can focus on updating a couple of my other stories. Patience _por favor_?


	11. Lament

Lament (_Of the Woeful Vampiress_)

* * *

A cry cut through the quiet atmosphere permeating the Cullen household. Esme rushed to where she heard it coming from, concerned for whoever it was expressing such distress. Once upstairs, she traveled speedily down the hall way and through the only open door where she could hear voices coming from. The sight that greeted her was unexpected.

Jasper stood off to one side of his and his wife's room, looking unsure of what he should be doing, going to her, stopping her, helping her. His wife on the other hand was darting around the room in a frenzy. He tried to follow her, offer assistance, offer help, something, but she wasn't stopping to give him any signs it was necessary. This wasn't Alice's usual frenzy inspired by decorating binge or even the frenzy she experienced after a really long satisfying shopping trip where she bought her little unbeating heart out in contentment. No, this was a genuinely upset frenzy. A destructive frenzy. She was raiding her own closet and destroying her own clothing. Sure, it was old outfits she had no intention of ever wearing again, but this was Alice. Destroying clothing was a travesty in Alice's personal opinion. If she had old clothing that was salvageable, she gave it to charity. She never trashed it in the manner she was doing now.

"Alice," Esme called out to her adopted daughter, "Alice dear, what's wrong? Why are you doing this?"

No answer. Alice continued manically tearing each piece of clothing down to the thread, muttering incoherently to herself as she did it. Seeing that she wasn't getting answers out of Alice, she turned to Jasper for them.

"I... honestly have no idea," Jasper spoke, sounding utterly bewildered, "She was fine earlier. We were just lying on the bed together when she started having a vision. The minute it was over, she screamed and started ripping things apart. She's feeling so many things right now, anger, confusion, and desperation. Whatever's going on, she's stubborn, she won't let them go even though I'm trying to settle her. She refuses to answer me when I ask her what the vision was about. It's obvious that whatever it was is troubling her."

Esme crossed the room to stand at her son's side, placing what she hoped was a comforting hand on his shoulder as they both watched with helpless fascination as Alice ripped the clothing to shreds. Neither knew how long they stood there doing so, unable to look away. The thing that finally put pause to the strange event was the return of Edward from running some last minute wedding preparations for Alice. He entered the room look a look at Alice, then another at the unmoving Jasper and Esme, then settled for pulling the information out of Alice's head.

"Wait, what's going to happen at the wedding?"

That seemed to snap Alice out of her uncharacteristic behavior. She stopped moving completely before letting out a wail, and, if she were human, she would no don't be crying rivers of tears. Jasper was at her side in a second, crouched on the floor next to her and holding her. He tried to soothe his distraught mate, rubbing circles into her back, whispering her comforting words, and using his gift to ease some of the despair off of her. Her thought process was so muddled Edward could no longer make heads or tails of what she was thinking. Some stray thoughts were her desperately trying to think up several different plans at once and then a flash of something would pop up and she'd frustrated dismiss the plans and start over. Edward saw twenty something disasters before Alice seemingly gave up deciding anything, sagging into Jasper, wearing an exhausted, incredibly unhappy expression. Jasper was trying to settle her emotions, but was having a hard time trying to keep his own in check when they were so quick to tune in and mirror Alice's.

"Alice, what is it? What did you see?" Esme asked, fearful about what Alice's upset mood and Edward's concern meant.

"It's the wedding..." Alice moaned pitifully.

"What's wrong?"

"Something bad is going to happen," Edward hazarded a guess based on what he could pick up from Alice's thoughts.

His mouth formed a grim line. Both he and Alice had been really looking forward to his and Bella's wedding since the moment Edward had finally, painstakingly extracted a yes out of his fiancé. Alice had taken complete control over the procession and planning of the wedding down to every last detail. Edward had left it in her hands, knowing she was capable from the many times she'd orchestrated Emmett and Rosalie's, Carlisle and Esme's, and even her own to Jasper. After being a groomsman for the better part of his undead life, he was looking forward to his first time being the groom. And he wanted the wedding to be immaculate. It was disheartening to see Bella so blasé and unhelpful about the whole thing, but he decided she'd appreciate it some day soon.

Now apparently their wedding was destined to meet with some kind of disaster.

"What is it Alice?" he demanded, "What's the cause?"

"It's a person."

"A person?"

"Bella just invited someone to the wedding."

"Who is it?" Edward asked.

"A friend..."Alice said before shaking her head, "No, not a friend of hers. A friend of a friend. He will be a guest of one of the people you two invited to the wedding."

"Which person is it? Maybe we can find a way to make sure this guest doesn't show up at the wedding. Uninvite them or something."

Edward winced at the scandalized look on Esme's face, as if the idea of trying to revoke an invitation was the rudest, worst offense a person could perpetrate. He did his best to ignore it, looking to Alice for her input on his idea. Alice shook her head.

"No, refusing to allow this person only makes the situation worse. Unimaginably worse. If they're not invited, they crash the party anyways and make a mess of everything. Dear God, I think in one scenario I saw, the result is the alter going up in flames. You do not even want to get me started on the dog thing..."

Alice shuddered.

Unfortunately, Edward was still picking up thoughts from Alice and watched a scene play out. Running guests, the cake in ruins and the smell of urine permeating the air. It was an ugly metal picture.

"How can one person be responsible for all of that?" Edward asked, bewildered.

"I don't know. For the last couple seconds I've been trying to lock onto the person so I can try and see into their future and predict what happens. Half the time I get a whole lot of blank spots, but when I do get a better view, it's foggy. The picture's fuzzy like... like in a picture when someone is moving when you take it, they blur. It's like he's moving too fast or changing his mind and making last minute decisions like the drop of a hat. Every vision I get of the wedding, wherever he goes, that part of the vision... distorts. From the point of the distortion, things change. It's really confusing. Guests move around. Things happen. I can't keep track of anything. It really makes my head hurt."

Her face dropped into her hands, and Jasper doubled his efforts to try and make her less uncomfortable.

"Is he a threat? Will he cause anyone harm?" Jasper quietly asked from beside her.

"No. He'll just cause a lot of mayhem if provoked."

"You said there were blank spots when you tried to look into this person's future. Is he in any way associated with the Quileutes?" Esme inquired.

"Yes," Alice answered, "Going to be Seth Clearwater's guest. I don't really know how they're related or where this man comes from beyond the fact that he's a friend of Seth's."

She paused, zoning out for a second.

"What is it Alice?"

"Bella's going to call me in a couple of minutes to inform me about the man coming with Seth."

"Anything important?"

"Yes... His name is Harry Potter..." Alice's worried look disappeared for a second as she giggled to herself, "She talked to him for a second on the phone. She thinks that his accent is attractive."

Edward felt a flash of jealousy.

"What kind of accent was it?"

He wasn't _jealous_. Not of some stranger with a strange accent who'd show up to his wedding to ruin it. No, he wasn't jealous or suspicious or upset at all.

"British," Alice replied.

"So his name is Harry Potter, he's British, and he's a friend of Seth Clearwater," Edward ticked off on his mental list.

"Oh, and apparently, he's staying with Billy Black," Alice added after a second.

"And he's staying with Billy Black," Edward repeated.

He allowed his mind to get carried away with the idea that this Harry Potter might be part of some conspiracy concocted by the Quileutes to derail his and Bella's wedding. Maybe he was a professional wedding crasher? Edward was tempted to blame this plot on Jacob if it weren't for the fact that Jacob Black had been missing in the woods for the last couple of months. There was the possibility that he'd passed it along through his mental connection with the pack, but Edward had to admit that he didn't think that Jacob was heartless enough to ruin a wedding. Especially the wedding of the girl he loved, even if she was marrying the man he hated most. Billy Black, though, was a man Edward wouldn't put it past. Billy had been scheming since the beginning to find a way to put an end to his and Bella's relationship. It had been due to his interference that Jacob had been thrust into Bella's life again and vice versa. He felt terrible that Bella felt so torn inside over Jacob, and felt some pity for the young wolf being manipulated by his own father into an unrequited love.

"Can any of you run a background check on this guy?" Edward asked, heaving an unnecessary sigh.

"We will," Alice offered, taking Jasper's hand.

"I want to find out more about this man," Jasper admitted, "It's been a while since anything but the Quileutes has interfered with Alice's vision this much."

"I think I'm going to head into town to see if there's any information and gossip I can pick up on him," Edward informed them.

"Are you three sure about this?" Esme wrung her hands anxiously. "I don't know if we should be jumping to conclusions and invading this man's privacy like this. Maybe we should wait on doing something until Rosalie and Emmett return from hunting and Carlisle is back from work so we can discuss what we should do together."

"I suppose," Jasper said.

Alice biter her lip but nodded. It was hard to argue with Esme. Edward himself really wanted to, but knew that it would make Esme upset and if Esme was upset, everyone else would be angry with him for her sake.

"Fine."

"I'll go call Carlisle to inform him of the situation," Esme said, heading to the kitchen to call on the land line.

"I'll call Emmett so he and Rosalie know," Jasper announced before pulling out his phone and exiting the room leaving only Edward and Alice.

"So..."

"What?"

"Do we tell Bella?"

"No," Edward answered, "We don't tell Bella. I can see her now using this as an excuse for trying to call of the wedding herself. We just need to find a way to get through this wedding with as little damage control as possible."

"That's going to be tough."

"I know."

"You know she's not going to appreciate us keeping secrets from her."

"I know."

"If she finds out we are, it's all on you."

"I know."

"Just warning you, you know."

He rolled his eyes.

"I know what I'm doing Alice."

"Uh-_huh_," Alice snorted, "When have I heard _that _before?"

"_Shut up_."

* * *

AN: This was really meh to me. I just needed to write it to get this scene out of my system. I tried to work on my other stories, but it's really hard to try and write and study for midterms at the same time. Sigh.


	12. Till

Till (_Death or Wizards Do Us Part_)

* * *

"You seriously called Hermione over here again just to help you with your tie?"

"What?" Harry demanded, not liking the incredulous look Seth was giving him.

"Why hasn't Hermione given up on you yet? You're kind of high maintenance," Seth commented, chuckling at the indignant look Harry got on his face as he and Harry approached the drive way.

"Brat."

Seth blew a raspberry back at him.

Sue had grudgingly agreed to drive both of them to the wedding reception. Despite the tentative tolerance she had formed for Harry in the past week, there was nothing Seth could say or do to convince her to voluntarily go anywhere near Cullen land even in the safety of her car. Billy was much the same way, and Harry felt ridiculous and guilty asking the man in the wheelchair to drive them. Not that having the boy's mother do it was any better, in fact it was down right ego crushing, but the fact was that Harry couldn't drive and Seth put his foot down on being apparated to the wedding. He didn't want to risk either of them vomiting on their suits regardless of the fact Harry could simply banish it or scourgify it away. It was times like these where listening to Hermione when she impressed upon him the benefits of muggle skills that he should have listened. For Merlin's sake, even Ron had gotten himself a license and this was Ron they were talking about. _Ron_.

The woman had dropped them off at the end of the road, part because half of the entire town of Forks was parked up the driveway and down the street. The other part was that Sue held the vampires with the same disdain her daughter and friend saw them with. Harry understood to some length the dislike for vampires. Relations with vampires in the British Wizarding world were still tense. Where the werewolves slowly gaining rights and becoming more accepted in their society, it seemed the polar opposite with vampires. People like Hermione in the ministry tried to open peace talks with the vampires, but as a race of immortal creatures, vampires rarely forgave and never forgot the shit list of wrongs done to them by wizards over their centuries of existence. Harry tried to leave all that business to Hermione, but always got dragged along to peace talks as the ace in the hole in case things got rough.

It was ridiculous that the ministry thought they could just wave him in the face of powerful vampires and expect them to quake in expensive Italian leather boots at the sight of him. It was pathetic when said vampires actually _were_ afraid of _him_.

Really, what was the world coming to?

"Merlin," Harry muttered in slight disgust taking all the details of the Cullen's house, "They're just your stereotypical rich vampires, aren't they? With the excessively expensive taste in real estate and whatnot."

"Aren't you rich Harry? Doesn't that make you a bit of a hypocrite ragging on them?"

Harry snorted.

"Sure I'm rich. I'm really bloody rich. But I don't go around buying mansions, fast cars, and expensive clothing. I just like having normal people stuff. Like junk food, hoodies and crappy apartments."

"I don't know Harry," Seth said, "The cars sound kind of cool. I'm gonna be driving soon and Jake was showing me how and well... He's a huge fan of cars and stuff."

"To each their own," Harry said, shrugging, "I'm perfectly happy with my world of frugality."

A petite girl walking up to them cut off their banter. She was remarkably pretty; you'd probably stop to look at her again if you passed her on a street. That wasn't what caught Harry's attention though. Gold eyes, dark circles lying just underneath them, graceful steps. She was a vampire. Harry's hand twitched as he barely suppressed the urge to hold her at wand point. He had to remind himself that this was a friendly vampire, probably one of the Cullens, and therefore one of Seth's friends.

"Hi Seth," Alice greeted the teen warmly.

"Hi Alice!"

"This must be your... guest. Harry Potter, right?"

There was something just not very right about her expression. Her eyes were tight and her smile was a tad too saccharine. Harry wondered if these vampires were aware of the magical world. Most European vampires knew who he was. American ones, he had no idea.

He wasn't given much time to think about anything else after he nodded because the little vampire was dragging them into the house. Harry shot a questioning look at Seth as if to ask if she was usually this commandeering. Seth seemed as bewildered as he did. They allowed her to drag them to the seating area and Harry and Seth sputtered as one when they were placed at the far back left corner where they'd see practically nothing of the walk up the aisle or the alter. The only things they could see were the far ends of the groomsmen and bridesmaids and the entrance of the bride. Even then that would be it. She'd disappear behind that one blond kid's enormous head at the end of the row and they'd be back to seeing nothing. Seth kept quiet, but Harry deliberately started complaining in whispers he knew the vampires could here about how much their seating sucked. When he saw the vampire from earlier, Alice's eye nervously start ticking, he started slandering the decorations. As the tick grew more violent, Seth had to muffle his near hysterics once Harry pointed it out to him.

Eventually, the ceremony ended, and Seth and Harry were incredibly thankful considering how boring it had been from their vantage point. Harry had taken the small window he had been given to get a good look at the bride. She was pretty too, in a way that reminded him of Katie Bell. Of course, the fact that it was her wedding day probably lent to how good she looked, what with that "blushing bride" and the "look of a woman in love" glowing stuff. So far, even with where he was sitting, the ceremony wasn't terrible. Every time he'd been at a wedding, he'd been up there towards the altar. It got exhausting having to stand for the entire thing. Especially at Ron and Hermione's wedding. Hermione didn't know the meaning of concise with her wedding vows. Ron lacked public speaking skills when it came to his feelings. Worst wedding experience ever.

The reception was held out on the lawn. As he was herded out along with the crowd onto the lawn, he couldn't help but regret not stealing the rings. He'd done it at George and Angelina's wedding. That had been hilarious until George had found out and with the help of his wife, had Harry locked in the closet of the church until they believed he wouldn't do anymore harm. And then there was that time and Neville and Hannah's where he'd planned to set off fireworks when they said their "I do"s but they went off in the middle of Hannah's causing her to scream instead of saying "I do." He sure liked the fireworks. Maybe he could call George? He had his mirror on him.

As soon as he thought it, he saw Alice's head swivel in his direction, her gold eyes blazing. He blinked, not understanding why he'd suddenly caught her attention. She wasn't the only one either. The groom himself was pinning him with a stare that was half accusatory, and half...constipated looking? Like the guy was trying really hard to do something strenuous and was making no progress with it. Feeling a little put on the spot, he ducked into the group Seth had been a part of and tried to uncomfortably immerse himself in the conversation. And avoid the weird amount of attention he was getting from the vampires.

"Harry," Seth suddenly said, tugging the sleeve of his tux insistently.

"What is it Seth?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Jake's here."

Immediately interested, Harry started scanning the reception for tall, dark haired, tan skinned males. It wasn't hard, since like all the other guys in Seth's pack, Jacob Black was enormous and as hard to miss against the incredibly pale inhabitants of Forks and the vampires. Maybe Harry didn't have to make entertainment for himself since the soap opera was about to begin. Beside him, Seth was getting anxious at the soap opera showdown that seemed like it was going to happen between the newly married couple and the prodigal wolf. Much to Harry's pleasure, Seth insisted they should move in a little closer so he could monitor the situation in case Jacob snapped. Harry felt some disappointment when the groom, Edward, actually walked away and left Bella with Jacob. Where was the epic werewolf versus vampire fight? Not even an argument? This was a wedding, the jilted lover was always supposed to get irrational and get into a pissing contest with the guy who had his babe. That was how it always went down in the all of the chick flicks he'd ever watched.

His disappointment left him when he saw that Jacob and Bella's conversation started getting heated. Now that was more like it. At least the obvious sexual tension between these two was evolving into some sort of impassioned screaming match. Where was the popcorn when you needed it?

"Okay, TMI. I really didn't need to know _that_," Harry heard Seth say in disgust to himself.

"What?"

"About Bella's sex life."

He couldn't help the cackle that spilled from his lips at that.

"They're talking about her sex life?"

"Yeah." Seth had a grossed out look on his flushed face. "Bella wants to...um, well, you know, with Edward before she becomes a vampire. Jake doesn't like that."

Harry's mirth died.

"She wants to have sex with Edward before she's turned? Wait, why didn't I consider this before? Bloody hell!" Harry cursed to himself.

"Why is that a problem?" Seth asked, still disgusted but curious.

"Humans literally cannot have sex with vampires. It's actually a _law_. For a good reason. Bugger this. I actually have to step in on this one. This vacation is supposed to not be about my job!" he complained, heading straight for the arguing party.

"Wait, Harry, what does this have to do with your job?" Seth asked.

"Can't say. I'll tell you after I've dealt with Bella. We'll meet back at Billy's in say, two hours. Can you create a diversion for me?"

"A diversion? What are you planning?"

"Here," Harry said, not answering him and instead dropping a circular object into his hand, "When I say the word, lob it somewhere. I suggest that when you throw it, you immediately cover your nose or leave, because considering how strong your sense of smells is, you'll probably pass out. I'm hoping it'll knock other people out."

"Harry-!"

His focus was solely on the bride now. Her argument with the Black boy was starting to escalate.

"Okay you two, calm down there," Harry said, placing one restraining hand on Bella's shoulder, the other on Jacob's chest. They both stared at him in confusion, "Now I'm not sure how weddings are supposed to go in America, but I think you're not supposed to yell at the bride on her wedding day." Both of them nodded dumbly at what he was saying, not knowing how else to react. "I'd like to steal away the bride here for a dance if you don't mind?" More nodding. "Goody."

He took Bella's hand. Alice and Edward were both heading in his direction, having noticed the disruption, looking like they were on an interception path.

"Seth! Now!"

Without bothering to see if Seth did as he instructed, he pulled Bella under a table and they disappeared.

* * *

AN: I got severe writer's block on this one. I went and read the SparkLife of _Breaking Dawn_ for chapters 3 and 4 and listened to the soundtrack of the Buffy episode "Once More With Feeling" for inspiration. It helped.


	13. Problems

Problems (_Should Be Dealt With Over Pie_)

* * *

"How... are we here? I remember being at the reception and now we're here. Where did all of the in between go?"

He ignored her question.

"You know, I'm getting the strangest feeling of deja vu here."

"You mean you've kidnapped someone and brought them to a diner for pie before?" the girl sitting across the table asked him sarcastically.

"Actually, yes."

Her mouth fell open.

"Seriously?"

"Um, yes? Anyway, me being a serial kidnapper is not what this conversation is about. We need to have a serious talk about your relationship with Mr. Edward Cullen."

"He's my husband," Bella said, eying him suspiciously, "You were obviously at the wedding so you know that."

"Yes, I do," Harry agreed, "But his being your husband is not entirely my concern. My concern lies with the fact that he is a vampire and your husband."

Bella went rigid at the word vampires.

"Vampires?" she chuckled nervously, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Does anyone come up with anything better than 'I don't know what you're talking about'? One does not go throwing around accusations wild accusations like that without know they're right. Unless you're me during my preteen and teen ages. But that's another story. My point is that I know Edward Cullen, as well as the rest of his family, is a vampire."

"Whatever you think about them it's wrong!" Bella exclaimed, "They're not monsters. They don't hurt people, they-"

"I am aware of that, Miss Swan, I mean, Mrs. Cullen," Harry said, cutting her off, "I've been told about their diet."

"Than what's the problem?" she demanded defensively.

"Well, it was that argument you were having with Jacob Black."

"What?"

"The argument the two of you were having. I unfortunately have to side with him."

"Are you related to the Quileutes somehow?" Bella asked, hostility leaking back into her voice, "I don't care what Jake or any of them say, I will stay with Edward and I will become a vampire."

"He's not making you become a vampire to be with him is he?"

"Of course not!" she yelled, "Edward is totally against me being a vampire. He wants to save me from becoming a monster. He doesn't understand that I want to become one. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No no," Harry said shaking his head, "Just checking. I have no real problems as long as you're choosing to be a vampire and he's not coercing you to be one in any way."

"Than what is the deal with you kidnapping me over some argument I had with Jake if you're not upset about me being a vampire?"

"It's not you being a vampire that bothers me. Mr. Black brought up something else that I couldn't ignore."

He placed his elbows on the table and put his hands together and threaded his fingers. Deliberately, he tilted his head down so his nose made contact with his hands and stared at her from over them. It was a tactic he'd actually stolen from Kingsley. His boss did it whenever he was about to say something he wanted to be taken seriously. Harry had adopted it, liking the effect it usually had on whoever he addressed. Bella seemed to get what he was trying to get across to her because she held back any pointless questions he knew she was dying to ask and waited for further explanation.

"Is it true you intend to have sex with you're husband before you are turned?"

"What?" Her shriek drew attention from all around the diner. She lowered her voice to hissing whisper. "How is me having sex with my vampire husband any of your business? Who are you to ask me about that?"

"My name is Harry Potter. I'm part of a magical community full of more things than just the supernatural beings you've been exposed to. So far. As a member of their law enforcement, of sorts, it's my job to step in when violations of our laws are about to occur."

"Prove it," Bella told him, crossing her arms.

He gave a frustrated sigh before reaching into his tux and pulling out his pocket mirror.

"What's that for?" she asked, looking at it confused.

"Give me a sec," he told her. Than he turned his attention to the mirror, "Calling, Shacklebolt, Kingsley."

There was silence at the table for a minute, Bella looking at Harry like he was a lunatic for talking to a mirror and Harry waiting impatiently for a response. Eventually, a banging noise ensued from the mirror, followed by a swear.

"Nice of you to pick up, sir," Harry snarked dryly.

"_Shut up Potter_," came his boss's angry, crackly response.

Across the table, Bella's mouth fell open for the second time that day.

"We've got a situation over here, sir."

"_The hell Potter? Only you could go on vacation in America have a situation on you hands._" Bella watched fascinated as the black man in the mirror air quoted the word situation. "_Who is the woman at the table with you? If you got all bevvied up, accidentally married a muggle and blew cover, I am not giving you permission to obliviate her and skip town. Man up. Now, I don't have time for this. Call back when it's important, I have papers to sign._"

The connection in mirror went silent.

"Brilliant. Why is it that everyone I know thinks I am some sort of raging alcoholic?" Harry muttered, shoving the mirror back into his tux.

"There was a man... in the mirror."

"Yes. That was Kingsley Shacklebolt. British Minister of Magic. Usually less of an arsehole."

"There was a man, in the mirror."

"We've already established that."

"Why...was there a man in the mirror?"

"Magic," Harry stated simply.

"Ah. So now, not only are there vampires, and werewolves, but also, a whole magical community."

A thoughtful look was on her face.

"How about that?"

"You're taking this too well. What is with the people here in Forks?" Harry asked, more to himself, "You people are more concerned with me being a serial killer or a kidnapper than being a wizard."

"So you were saying you're part of the magical law enforcement," Bella said, interrupting his rant, "Please tell me why having sex with Edward while still a human is such a problem that you need to interfere."

"Because you'll die," Harry answered straightforwardly.

"If you think Edward could ever hurt me, you're wrong. He has more control than you can imagine," Bella argued.

Harry snorted. It drew Bella's glare.

"I'm sorry if I'm not convinced. I don't know if you've ever had sex before, and I seriously doubt you ever have based on the way you blush every time the word sex is used, but people tend to get a little caught up in the moment. If Edward gets even the slightest bit too excited, best-case scenario you might break something like your hipbone, worst-case scenario, you get maimed or die. Is sex worth that?"

"Yes, because he wouldn't hurt me," Bella said with complete conviction.

"Well, the thing is that if the sex doesn't kill you, the aftermath will."

"Aftermath?" she asked, her nose scrunching in consternation, "What aftermath?"

"Pregnancy," Harry answered.

She burst into laughter.

"Oh, come on Mr. Potter, now you've got to be yanking my chain! Edward's a vampire. He's all, dead and stuff. He can't get me pregnant!"

"Unfortunately, he can," he said, "I don't fully understand the anatomical process or how the hell it actually works, but a vampire can impregnate a human female. This doesn't work on the flip side with a vampire female and a human male. It apparently has something do with the state of the uterus or some such. Anyways, it works. Except it really doesn't."

"What? How does it work if it doesn't work?"

"What I mean is that you get pregnant. And once you're pregnant, the kid beats the living shit out of you from the inside and when it's time for it to be born, the half-breed rips you open on its way out. We've had cases of women raped," Harry spoke grimly, "by vampires. That's always the result. These women die because some genuinely evil vampire bastard decides to mess around with them, and that's if they aren't straight up killed attack." He stopped her before she could speak. "Edward probably doesn't know about this. Most vampires don't. The only reason my government does is because we have to clean up the mess they leave behind. This isn't a joke Mrs. Cullen. I don't want to be hearing about your death from Seth, or even worse, take care of you myself."

His eyes pierced hers, and she swallowed harshly, as scared tears welled up in her eyes.

"Just why do you have your heart set on having sex with him before you're both vampires?"

"I..." she stuttered out, "I wanted one night with him as a human. I just wanted some memory...something to hold onto before I was turned. Before I'd spend a whole year as a mindless newborn. Before I'm another person."

"Bella," Harry said, trying to calm the girl, "you seem like a really nice girl. I have faith in you that you'll be a fairly good vampire as long as you don't go on killing rampages and stick to the no people diet. But one fling you may end up forgetting during the transition isn't worth what might happen to you otherwise. Think about the people who will be devastated by your death. Your friends, your father. How do you think your husband's going to feel? The pain of losing a loved one is nothing compared to the guilt he'd feel if he thought it was his fault. I know about that pain. It makes you go mad. If not for the sake of survival, than for the sake of the ones you love, save it for later."

She'd been reduced to tears. Harry knew he was laying it on thick, but he had to make her understand that she couldn't follow through with her plans. Bella wasn't thinking things through, she wasn't being irrational. If she was anything like how he used to be, and he had a feeling she was, playing dirty and dragging her feelings for Edward into this would be the only way to break her from the path she was setting herself on. Jacob couldn't snap her out of it because he was too close to the situation, she couldn't trust him to be impartial. Only the cold hard truth from an unbiased party would wake her up to the terrible decision she was about to make. All of her defiance, stubbornness, defensiveness, had finally given away to the realization there was a price for everything she wanted. She couldn't be a brat and have it all.

"Alright," she said, "I won't try to force it on Edward anymore. He's already having a hard enough time accepting that I'm going to be turned. I won't burden him any further. I just want to be a vampire so we can have our forever."

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes, even if it was ruining the moment. Bella winced.

"Yeah, I know, pretty corny."

"I was a teenager once too," Harry told her, feeling a little nostalgic, "Thought I'd marry my first girlfriend and we'd have our own forever."

"So?"

"We got married."

"And are you two living your forever?"

He glanced at the clock. It was getting close to the two-hour mark. Seth would start to worry if he didn't get back soon.

"That's another story for another time, Bella," Harry told her, giving her a mysterious smile that he remembered his sister-in-law telling him looked dumb. In this case, Bella looked intrigued and disappointed. She'd stay that way for a while, "Now I've got to get you home before either your father or your spouse sets off a full scale man hunt for us."

* * *

AN: Yes. I have officially murdered Renesmee. I feel no guilt. I just recently read _Breaking Dawn_ and felt like stabbing the book all through Bella's pregnancy. And after. And the rest of the book. I wouldn't make it through rehashing the pregnancy again. For the good of _my_ mental state, she just needs to not exist.


	14. Loyalty

Loyalty (_Is the Same, Whether it Win or Lose the Game_)

* * *

This was really uncomfortable. In a scene particularly reminiscent of the one where Harry had first met the pack, Seth sat in the living room of the Black's house, accompanied by several of the other pack members. He'd already explained what he could to the others as per Sam's request. There wasn't much he could tell them though. Seth wasn't completely sure what Harry's plan had been. He was a little upset Harry hadn't shared details with him, but sitting here with the rest of the pack, he was starting to understand why. Back at the reception, he could tell Harry had wanted to tell him, but didn't want the pack to know the details of whatever it was he was planning. Seth's mind link offered no dependable privacy; he'd be hard pressed to keep information from them if he shifted, and even if he did managed to withhold it, Sam could order him to speak. Not for the first time, he was irritated by the drawbacks of that trait of being a werewolf.

Like last time, the entire pack could not afford to be at the meeting. Especially with the unknown vampires in the area that the Cullens had invited to the wedding. Paul, Jared, Leah and Quil were running patrol. They were older and more experienced and Sam trusted them to run things more tightly while out tonight. Gathered in the living room were his fellow newbies Collin and Brady, Embry, Sam, Jake and Billy. Jake was pacing back and forth, unable to relax until he was sure Bella was okay. He'd actually been asked to patrol the woods, but had begged Sam to let him wait at home for Harry to come back, hopefully with Bella. Most of the pack liked Harry so far. In fact, before tonight, Jake had been very pro-Harry. But with his reckless actions at the reception, all of them were starting to become suspicious of Harry. They knew a fair amount from Seth, but even Seth was a little vague on just who his imprint was. Still, Seth had faith in Harry that he was a good person who knew what he was doing, regardless of what anyone else thought.

It was a quarter to six when the wolves heard a noise outside of the house. Jake was the first one to the door since he was the only one already on his feet. Seth was up right after him to ensure that Jake didn't decide to pull another Leah on Harry. The door was flung open and a rather disheveled looking Harry was admitted into the house. His hair was a mess (though that seemed its natural state of being), mud caked his shoes and the bottom of his slacks, his tie and a couple of the buttons on his shirt were undone, and finally his glasses were askew.

"Where's Bella?" Jake pressed, not bothering to give Harry any time to come in and settle himself.

"Safe. Back with the Cullens," Harry replied, side stepping past Jake and going straight to Seth, "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to put you in a bad situation."

"It's alright," Seth reassured, leaning forward into Harry before restraining himself. As much as he wanted to throw himself into Harry, it would be weird to do it when the rest of the pack was there too.

"What the hell was that Harry?" Sam demanded, leveling Harry with a glare.

"That," Harry said with a long-suffering sigh, "Was me taking care of something that needed to be taken care of.

"What did it have to do with Bella?"

Harry eyed Jake with a near mocking smile.

"You sure like to go on about that girl, don't you?" Jake bristled. "It had to do with your argument with her. As it happens, I agree with you. I had to make her see reason."

"What?"

"I had to talk Bella out of having her kinky vampire-on-human honeymoon sex," Harry said, picking his nails, "And before you ask, no, I didn't threaten or hurt her in any way to make her accept. I did however, guilt trip the hell out of her."

Everyone stared at him.

"Oh come on now, why is it that no one is mature enough to accept the word sex exists? This is almost as bad as everyone before the war with saying Voldemort."

A frown formed on Seth's face. Voldemort was the name of the man who'd tormented Harry most of his childhood. It was a shame Harry had already killed him himself. Seth was generally a nice guy who liked to give most people the benefit of the doubt, but anyone who hurt Harry signed a death warrant the minute they touched a single misplaced hair on his head.

"Why is anything Bella does your concern?" Jake asked, no longer hostile, "Not that I'm complaining about you interfering. Bella's my best friend, but when she gets these stupid ideas into her head, she really needs someone to talk her out of them."

"I really don't want to explain anything else." Harry kicked his shoes off at the door, somehow managing to get them to land neatly side by side, and flopped like a boneless fish onto the available spot on the couch next to Brady. He let out a long exhale/moan sound. "Now go away and leave me alone. I want to sleep."

His head dropped back onto the couch and he seemed dead to the world.

"Is he being serious?" Jake asked, incredulous.

"Yup," Seth supplied for him.

Suddenly, Harry's head shot up again.

"I amend my earlier statement. Everyone except Seth can go. And maybe Billy and Jake. Not like I can kick you guys out of your own home."

He promptly passed out again. Sam pinched his nose in an attempt to not take his frustration with the man on the couch out on any of the others in the living room. Taking a long calming breath, he told everyone to just go home and they'd reconvene the next day.

"Seth."

The boy turned his attention away from Harry to his alpha.

"I know he's your imprint, but this is-" He paused, as if struggling. "He's becoming a problem."

"A problem?" Seth growled, not liking Sam's tone.

"There hasn't been this much trouble since Bella Swan first showed up. We all know what happened there."

Jake joined him in glaring at Sam.

"I'm not trying to be the bad guy here," Sam said angrily, "Harry may be some sort of authority wherever he comes from, be he doesn't understand the way things are run here. We're supposed to do our jobs. Protect people from the vampires, keep all of this a secret. Someone outside the tribe knows about us. He kidnapped Bella earlier today. How are we going to explain this to her family? To the Cullens and Charlie? Harry is becoming a liability. Something needs to be done."

"Just what are you trying to get at Sam?

"I don't know Seth. He needs to understand. No more of these crazy stunts. This can't keep happening. The Cullens were already trouble enough. Bella made it worse. We don't need Harry bringing his own brand of raising hell into the mix. I'm just saying, you need to make sure he knows that he's got to stop. Or else"

"Leave."

"Seth, I'm warning you."

"Sam, I think it's time for you to go," Billy finally interrupted, pushing himself in so he was positioned somewhere between Sam and Seth.

Seth stood ramrod straight, giving Sam the coldest look ever. Sam's eyes slid over to Billy, who looked apologetic, and over to Jake, who was staring back at him almost as unfriendly as Seth was. Squaring his jaw, he glanced back at the unconscious man on couch once more with an indiscernible emotion and finally let himself out. Both shifters could hear him change shape and bound off. Minutes later, a howl sounded in the distance. A couple seconds more passed until both Seth and Jake seemed to relax. The younger of the two strode purposely over to the couch Harry was stretched across and took the seat right next to his imprint. Billy and Jake watched with some fascination as removed Harry's glasses and placed them on the coffee table in front of them, brushing some of his hair out of his face. The man stirred a little as this happened, shifting slightly to the right towards Seth. He kept shifting until his head was comfortably rested in the crook of Seth's neck. For his part the boy seemed to be cycling between inner panic and intense satisfaction at the situation, not knowing whether he wanted to push the man away or pull him closer.

"I'm going to bed," Jake announced, yanking his collar nervously before taking off down the hall.

That left Billy alone with the teen that was undergoing a private panic attack whilst his imprint was currently preparing to molest him in his sleep. He was a little torn. He really wanted to just excuse himself out of the strange goings on occurring tonight like his son had. In fact, what he really wanted to do was follow said son and give him a piece of his mind for being gone for so long only to surface to cause trouble at Bella's wedding. But he'd promised Sue. No funny business under his roof while these two were together. Even if the funny business was being perpetrated unwittingly. So he loudly cleared his throat so Seth would remember he and Harry had an audience. The teen's head snapped towards him so fast, Billy could've sworn he heard it snap. His eyes were wide and looking guilty as hell.

"You should probably be heading home, kid."

"I-" He glanced down at Harry, who, like ivy, was slowly creeping and crawling his body into outright cuddling him.

"Your mom'll be pitching a fit soon. Taking care of Charlie will only keep her preoccupied for so long until she realizes you're out past sun down."

Seth winced, knowing Billy was right. As carefully as possible, he twisted himself out of Harry's increasingly tightening grip. He was a little reluctant, and missed the warmth of Harry against his side the second it was gone. Without anyone to lean into, Harry sagged right ways into the couch cushions. Feeling bad, Seth pulled him into a lying position on the couch and even maneuvered a couch pillow under his head. He turned to Billy.

"Is he alright here?"

"He looked pretty beat when he walked in. Wouldn't want to disturb him if we moved him, though it would've been more convenient if he could've taken a dive into his own bed," Billy sighed, "Hopefully he won't get any mud on the couch."

Nodding, Seth disappeared down the hall and came back with a blanket from Harry's room and threw it over his figure, tucking it in wherever it seemed best. Once he'd finished with that, he quietly bid Billy a good night and let himself out of the house. The cold air hit his face, though he didn't feel it as sharply as normal people would. Against his hot skin, it felt like a pleasantly cool breeze. For some semblance of decency, he disappeared into the tree line near the Black's place and then began stripping. He would've called his mother to pick him up, but he felt like he needed a run to clear his head. His body rippled, stretched, reformed, and came to all fours. He opened his eyes and he was the wolf.

Taking his folded clothing carefully into his teeth, he took off in the direction he knew vaguely was home. He wasn't in a hurry to get there, in fact, he was probably going to take the long way there, take a detour past the creek or something. His mind was a whirl with everything that had been discussed tonight. His loyalty to Harry was warring with his loyalty to Sam and the pack. Both tied back to what he had become. Werewolf. Why had things gotten so complicated? Why had he turned into a wolf, why had his dad died, why did he have to fight vampires, why was Harry his imprint? Why was it so hard to be friends with the Cullens? Why were there so many obstacles in his and Harry's relationship?

Leah's consciousness trickled into his own, no thoughts, just the feel of concern. Seth shook her off, and distracted himself with thoughts of the trees and the passing scenery. After a minute worth of wavering, she left him alone. Sighing mentally, he kept running. It would be a long time till he went home.

* * *

AN1: Sorry about the no warning and then disappearing. I've been working hard lately and the late night fanfic writing has been trashing my health. I'm on the wrong side of a cold right now, if the whooping cough I have is any indication. I'm going to be slowing down for a while so I can get healthy. That probably means only once or twice a week for a while.

AN2: No particular thoughts about this chapter. A bit of a throw out, Harry's state of being kind of reflects my own right now. The title is taken from a quote from Samuel Butler. I was being lazy and uncreative.

AN3: I truly hate character bashing. I may not like Bella (or many of the other characters), but I want to be above bashing and letting my bias run rampant, I prefer better methods such as character redemption. Feel free to call me on it when it happens.


	15. Call

Call (_And I'll Be There_)

* * *

_Buzz._

Harry didn't start, simply opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. It was dark, but he could tell it was the Black's living room. He was lying on his side on the couch with a blanket covering him. It made sense, he'd been really tired when he got back from the Cullens's house, he'd just about fallen into a dead faint the minute his body had hit the couch. The blanket and more comfortable positioning he'd bet were thanks to Seth. Glancing about, he quickly confirmed no one was awake and nearby. He sat up and pulled out his wand, uttering a quiet _muffliato_ towards the hall and then pulled out his fairly new cell phone. It was going off, so he flipped it open and answered it.

"Who is this?"

"_Mr. Potter? Mr. Potter, it's Bella. Bella Swan-I mean, Cullen._"

"Bella," Harry said curtly, nodding to himself. He'd slipped her his number before depositing her back home and running for his ever loving life.

"_I um, I don't know how to say this._"

Silence. Then he could hear Bella swallow nervously on the other end.

"_Edward doesn't know I'm calling. He's out hunting._"

Harry frowned.

"He probably wouldn't like the idea of you calling me. I imagine your husband must detest me after crashing your wedding. I am sorry about that, by the way"

She gave a nervous laugh.

"_Don't worry about that so much Harry. It wasn't me who planned it. I'd be watching my back if I was you. Alice, my sister-in-law, probably has it out for you._"

"The pixie?"

"_Yeah._"

He chuckled.

"Yeah, I imagined she would. Gave me the ruddy stink eye the whole wedding."

This time Bella's laugh was a little more genuine.

"Bella," Harry said again, "Why are you calling? Not that I don't dislike the idea of a pretty girl ringing me up, but it is the middle of the night and we've both had a rather long day. At least I have, if having homicidal vampires at my throat and nosy werewolves on my back is any indication."

There was a pause and then the floodgates opened.

"_You were completely right Mr. Potter. I've been thoughtless and selfish and I haven't considered how my decisions would affect the people around me. I want to be with Edward for the rest of existence. But there are consequences to my decision. Do you know about the treaty the Cullens have with the Quileutes?_"

"Yes," Harry said, recalling the details of it Seth had outlines for him at the diner the second time they'd met.

"I_f any of the Cullens bite a human, the treaty is breached and the Quileutes will kill them._"

By this point, Harry was able to figure out the direction she was going with this.

"If they turn you, they'd be starting a civil war," Harry uttered, horrified.

"_Yes._"

"Bella, you can't be turned," Harry said panicked, "I haven't known the wolves for very long, but if you let the Cullens break the treaty, they will stick to their word. Sam, will make them go to war. They're boys Bella. Sam and Leah, they're adults. But the rest, they're all children. Just children who will be sent to fight their parent's war. And don't tell me that the Cullens will roll over an allow themselves to be slaughtered. Your coven is a family. You all come in pairs. You will fight for your family and mates. Doesn't matter, vampire or wolf, both sides will lose."

He could hear Bella crying on the other side but couldn't bring himself to feel any pity for her this time.

"I will not let Seth die for this!" he yelled into his phone, "You cannot be turned!"

"It's not that simple Mr. Potter," Bella sobbed.

"Oh right!" Harry snarled, "You can't live without Edward? Is that it? You have to be bloody vampire to be with him cause you can't stand getting old? Afraid he's going to leave you once you're grey and wrinkled? What? Tell me what makes this situation so hard that you can't put the lives of the pack, of Seth or even your best friend Jacob before the need to be turned?"

"_The Volturi_," Bella just barely made out over her anguished cries.

If Bella could see him, she'd see how pale he'd gone at the name. The Volturi. Harry had met them just once and wished he'd never had. They'd been gracious hosts when he'd accompanied Hermione on one of her trips as a diplomatic envoy to see them. But they were monsters. Like Voldemort and Greyback. They had blatant disregard for the lives of regular humans. The way they led in groups of humans to their deaths and then pretended they were civilized when the wiped the blood from their lips with silk napkins and claimed they limited themselves so as not to draw suspicion. His skin had crawled at being in the same room as them. If it had been Britain, his jurisdiction, he would've taken as many aurors as willing and razed their deathtrap to the ground.

But it wasn't his call. Kingsley had given him direct orders not to act unless in self defense or else it would cause problems with the Italian ministry who the Volturi had on a leash. Even if he tried to provoke an attack, it wouldn't work. They wouldn't fight him. The Volturi feared the power he held, both political and ability wise. And Hermione wouldn't let him. Though she felt much the same way about their practices, Hermione felt they were the key to bringing peace between wizards and vampires. They held the power amongst vampires. And Harry could grudgingly accept that they wouldn't go down easily in a fight. From what he knew from the few vampires he'd met, they were a force to be dealt with due to their special powers. If Bella was mixed up with them in some way, he could understand why things were more complicated than they seemed.

"Tell me everything."

"_It was in March. Edward and the Cullens had l-left me before,_" she stuttered out, and Harry could hear the pain in her voice as she spoke, "_I started doing crazy stupid things because I thought I could hear Edward's voice talking to me, trying to tell me to be careful. I just, missed him so bad. Even if he was scolding me, I just wanted him there, talking to me. But when I tried cliff diving, I almost died. Alice can see the future, and when she saw me jump, she thought I was trying to commit suicide. She told the others and then came to check on me. Rosalie, who doesn't like me very much, told Edward I was dead. When he called to check on me, Jake picked up the phone and told him my father was arranging a funeral. Edward assumed the worse._

"_He went to the Volturi. They're the vampire police of sorts. He was going to expose himself to humans in public so they'd be forced to execute him for his crime. Alice saw it and took me with her to Italy to go stop him from doing it. She said I would be the only one to convince him not to let them kill him. We barely made it there in time to stop him, but by then, the Volturi guard was there watching Edward, waiting for us. They took us to their leaders, Caius, Marcus and Aro._"

There was another pause, and Harry could swear she was shivering. He could feel himself shiver at the mention of their names, but it was more out of rage and disgust if anything.

"T_hey weren't very happy to find out about me_. _Normal humans aren't supposed to know about the existence of vampires. Even if Carlisle, Edward's dad and the leader of the Cullen coven, was a friend of theirs, they couldn't let us just leave. They made the Cullens promise I'd be turned very soon, or else. If we don't comply, they will attack the Cullen family. The Volturi's leader already wants Edward and Alice, and me to some extent. I apparently have potential to be a powerful vampire asset_, " she said this with distaste, "_This will just give them reason to make their move on the Cullens._"

Things went quiet for a while. Now Harry understood. Bella really was caught up in something bad. If he was in the mood to joke, he probably would've laughed at how he had not only met his soul mate in Forks, but someone whose life was, not quite, but pretty close to as fucked up as his was.

"_I called you_," she said, "_Because you might be the only person who can help me. I don't want anyone to be hurt or killed. I just don't... know what to do. I wish I could just go away so that there wouldn't be anymore fighting or danger. But I can't leave Edward. Please Mr. Potter. Tell me, is there anything I can do?_"

The minute she'd finished explaining, he'd already begun planning. His primary focus was to find a plan to minimize collateral damage done to the pack. He also could admit he was taking a shine to Bella who was more and more reminding him of well, himself, and wanted to protect her too. In general, he wanted everyone to come out of this safe, no children dying, no families broken. He could feel the familiar weight of what felt like the world being thrown on his shoulders. It was times like these that Hermione's description of him having a hero complex seemed to be excruciatingly on the dot. Harry couldn't turn his cheek at Bella's plight. Especially when Seth's life was at jeopardy. With the plan mostly formulated in his mind, he sighed and prepared to share it with Bella.

"I have an idea."

"_You do?_" Bella exclaimed, her voice watery and hopeful.

"It's not concrete," he said, sighing again, "And there is a chance it might not work. But it's the only plan I have. What it all hinges on is that you trust me Bella, and do everything I tell you to do."

"_I..._" she started but cut herself off.

Good. She was hesitating. If there was one thing Bella needed, she needed to learn not to trust blindly in every supernatural thing that crossed her path that seemed friendly. Of course, he really did need her to trust him for this to work, but he was glad that she wasn't really going to just follow a stranger she'd just met without being a little suspicious of him.

"I know you're scared Bella, and you haven't known me for very long. How can you trust me? But I promise, I will see you through this. If it works, you and Edward will be together and everyone, the Cullens and the pack, will be safe."

"_You promise_?"

"I promise. If you ask it of me, I will swear an unbreakable oath to you."

"_What's an unbreakable oath?_"

"When a wizard makes an unbreakable oath, he must follow through with his promise or die as consequence for not doing so," Harry clarified.

Bella gasped.

"_You'd risk your life for this?_"

"If you can't trust that I'll do this for you, then you have to trust that I do this for Seth. I am Seth's imprint. In some sort of cosmic turn of events, we are each other's soul mates. If doing this will keep Seth safe, I'll do it. You're not the only person who has someone the care about's life at risk."

There was stunned silence after that.

"_I don't want an oath Harry,_" Bell finally said, "N_ot if it might mean your life. But, I understand your motivations now. And I think I can trust you._"

"Alright," Harry said, relieved she didn't actually want an oath. If phrased wrong, he could die for the stupidest break of the oath, "I need you to pack yourself a travel bag Bella. Only things you can't go without. Where we're going, I will cover your clothing and eating expenses. And don't complain about the expense. It's necessary."

"_We're going somewhere?_" Bella asked, fighting to keep the sound of protest out of her question.

"You'll be back Bella," Harry reassured her, knowing what she was thinking, "It'll be a while before you come back. Anywhere from months to a year. Is that alright?"

"_I guess_," she responded, though there was a fraction of uncertainty, "_What about Edward? My father? Everyone?_"

"I'll be there to get you in the evening. You have until then to make excuses and say your goodbyes. You have to make sure they know you are leaving of your own volition. I don't want the law or vampires on my tail because they think I've kidnapped you. Again."

"_Harry..._" She seemed more uncertain that she'd been all night, "_What about Seth?_"

A wince.

"He can't come with us."

"_I guessed that,_" Bella said, "_Are you...Are you going to tell him goodbye too?_"

"Yes," he answered.

"_Are you going to miss him?_"

"Of course." His chest constricted. "Go pack Bella, and text me your address so I know where to get you. I'll see you at noon. If you change your mind, call."

"_I won't,_" she said, for the first time sounding completely invested.

"Sure. Goodnight."

"G_ood night and... thank you Mr. Potter._"

He hung up and stared at the phone for a second before setting an alarm on it. He'd need to wake up early to get all of his business done before he left. The guilt he felt at knowing he'd have to leave Seth tugged at him again. Harry put away his phone and quickly cast a finite incantatum to remove the muffliato. Closing his eyes, Harry lay back down on the couch and pulling the covers back over himself.

He dreamed of Seth.

* * *

AN: I liked this chapter. My brain and fingers decided to work together this time with little problems. So two things to discuss. One, my poll for Jake and his romantic prospects. Though I like the car girl option, I gave you the choice, and I'm serious about possibly pairing him with an HP character. But you guys have to give me ideas or I have nothing to work with. Inspire me. I'm closing the poll after a couple more updates, so get a move on. Other thing, I've posted a story called Can We Begin. It's set in the future of this story verse. Check it out if you're interested. That's all for now.


	16. Resting

Resting (_Here with M_e)

* * *

"Hey Billy?" Harry called out.

Seth could hear the man grunt from the living room in acknowledgement.

"Seth and I are gonna walk to the supermarket. There anything you need us to pick up?"

"Sure, got a list on the fridge. You two need a ride?"

"No," Harry replied, "Thanks for offering."

With that, Harry swiped the list and pulled Seth along. Seth allowed it, not really understanding Harry's sudden desire to go shopping. He didn't really understand much about Harry today in general. Usually Seth was the one to initiate hang out time with Harry, and Harry would always indulge him. The role reversal was a pleasant turn of events, but Seth couldn't help the unsettled feeling in his gut. Harry acting out of character was usually precursor to him doing something crazy. The feeling intensified as he realized Harry was leading them off the road and out into the woods.

"Harry?"

The man didn't respond. They continued walking for a while longer until the road was no longer visible from where they were, completely blocked out by trees. Harry leaned against a tree, his hands shoved in his pocket. His expression was meant to be reassuring, but it was forced. There was turmoil buried underneath it. Seth could see it in his eyes, in the discomfort he could sense coming from him. Something was really wrong.

"Harry?" Seth asked again, taking a step closer, breaking personal space so he could tentatively touch Harry's arm, "What's wrong?"

"This is tougher than I thought it would be," Harry said, meeting his eyes.

"What?"

"Saying goodbye."

There was a pounding in his ears.

"Why are you saying goodbye?"

Breaking eye contact, Harry stared off to his right, his shoulders sagging in a defeat. He looked back at Seth.

"The thing with Bella, it's more complicated than I originally thought it would be. She's in a whole lot of trouble and I'm the only one who can help her. If there was any other person who could pull this off, I'd let them do it in heartbeat."

"Why do you have to help her?"

Harry's body was curled further into itself; his head dipping closer and closer till his forehead met with Seth's, their noses almost touching. It was hard to focus on anything - even his despair - except how achingly close Harry's face was to his.

"I should've realized it before," Harry muttered angrily to himself, "I should've figured it out after you told me about the treaty."

"What are you talking about Harry?" Seth placed a hand on either side of Harry's face. "What does the treaty have to do with anything?"

"If the Cullens bite anyone, your pack has to exterminate them. Bella has to become a vampire. If they turn her, you go to war." There was a tortured look in Harry's eyes. "I don't want to lose anyone else Seth. I care about you so much, if you got hurt and I did nothing when I knew I could, I'd never forgive myself."

"But it's our job Harry," Seth tried to argue.

"No," Harry near yelled, "I refuse to accept that it's your job to lay down your life over a treaty as stupid as the one your people have with the Cullens. It's already bad enough that you're forced transform into wolves, worse that your free will is stolen from you and you can't choose who you love. I know you don't want to fight the Cullens. Edward Cullen is your friend. I refuse to let Sam drive you and the wolves into a war with your friends."

"How are you going to stop it?"

"I'm going to make Bella a vampire without breaking the treaty," Harry answered grimly.

"What?" Seth exclaimed pushing away from him, "Harry, you can't! The pack, Jake, they'll never forgive you!"

"I have to. I'm sorry if this will set me against the pack, but this is the only way possible to maintain peace between them and the Cullens. No break, no war."

"Isn't there some other way? Can't you convince Bella to not be a vampire?"

For what seemed like the hundredth time, Harry heaved a sigh.

"I tried that. Bella has no choice on the matter. The Volturi vampires have become involved in Bella's life. If she doesn't become a vampire, they will make her and wreak havoc upon the Cullen coven as punishment for not doing it themselves."

"But we could help her! Protect her from the Volturi. We've done it before, protected her from Victoria and her army of newborns."

Harry's expression darkened.

"Army of newborns?"

"Yeah," Seth replied, his moth going a little dry, "Victoria was this vampire who wanted to kill Bella because Edward had killed her mate. She made an army of newborns earlier this year to take on the Cullens."

"Let me guess," Harry said, his voice revealing his barely suppressed rage, "Sam led you all into battle against them?"

"What were we supposed to do? Not help? Let more people get killed? Let Bella get killed?"

There was silence for a while.

"I understand that it was necessary," Harry finally said, "I was just a kid when the war against Voldemort began and there was no way out of that. But that doesn't mean I have to like the idea of you having to fight. And I won't let you fight a pointless battle against the Cullens and especially not against the Volturi. The Volturi are a whole different brand of vampire. Newborns are stupid. The Volturi are old and smart and more dangerous than you can imagine. They will kill you and enjoy it." He caught Seth's eyes once more. "I don't think you can begin to fathom the feeling of seeing people you know and love die right before your eyes. It sure as hell isn't easy." He exhaled deeply through his nose. "I lost my parents. I lost my godfathers. I lost so many friends. Could you bear to lose any of your pack? What about your sister? Is the fight really worth it if they die?"

"I..."

Seth let his imagination supply for him depictions of his pack brothers being clawed and torn apart. Their bloodied, mutilated corpses staining a battleground. His own sister's body twisted in pain, gore and death. It was enough.

"No," Seth answered, "No, I don't want any of them to die."

"Then please understand me when I say I have to do this. Not for Bella, but everyone."

"I understand." Even though he didn't want to. He understood that Harry was right, and this was for the best of everyone.

"I wish I could stay..."

Unable to take standing apart from him any longer, Seth moved back into Harry's embrace. Everything felt better, less hard there. It was easy to pretend that Harry wasn't sad, Harry wasn't going away.

"When do you leave?"

"Tonight," came Harry's soft reply.

Closing his eyes wearily, Seth turned his head into Harry's neck, breathing in his scent to comfort himself.

"Why so soon?"

"The longer we wait, the more risk we run that the Volturi will come after Bella and the Cullens. She needs to be turned as quickly as possible so we can present them with proof of her change. There are steps in my plan that require we travel a lot for a long time." He paused. "Seth, I'm so sorry I'm doing this to you. That I'm leaving. I can't even pretend to get what it will put you through."

"I don't suppose you could take me with you, eh Harry?" Seth joked, trying to be funny even though his heart was breaking.

"No." The arms around him tightened, and he felt his own follow suit. "Your mother and your sister hardly approve of you being with me right now. How would they ever accept you running away from home to be alone with me half way across the world?"

"I'm so tired of them screwing everything up," the boy grumbled to himself.

"They're your family Seth. Be glad they care enough to worry about you."

"I just wished they cared less where you're concerned."

This finally got a laugh out of Harry who could practically hear the pout in Seth's complaint.

"Can't say I disagree too much with you there."

He felt Harry release his hold on him and did the same. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a hand sized circular mirror. Taking Seth's hand, he placed the mirror in it.

"If you ever need me, you just use this, call my name and I'll answer. Even if you just want to talk about the weather or something, call."

His hand traced the intricate patterns of the mirror's frame. It was kind of amazing how he'd be able to see and communicate with Harry through this thing. The whole idea of Harry being magical and having all of these strange, interesting things at his disposal never stopped being cool. But it wouldn't be the same. Talking through a mirror would never be a proper substitute for being with Harry. Having Harry close by so he could hear his heart, feel him holding him. He wouldn't trade it for all of the crazy magical knick knacks in the world.

"I'm going to miss you Harry. I'm going to miss you so much."

"And I'm going to miss you too Seth."

"Knowing you'll miss me helps me feel a little better though," Seth admitted with a chuckle.

"Twerp," the taller male said affectionately, reaching out and ruffling Seth's hair.

With a squawk of protest, Seth tried to swat his hands away. Harry was relentless in his attack upon his hair. Seth laughed as he tried to dodge away. Neither of them was looking where they were going and managed to trip. They lay there for a while, side by side, Harry on his stomach and Seth on his back. Both were breathless from having the wind knocked out of them when they hit the ground. Seth stared thoughtfully up into the cloudy Washington sky. The clear summer days were coming less and less the closer August came to its close. It would only be a matter of time until he went back to school. Back semi-normal life outside things like the pack, the vampires and Harry. Going back to the normal seemed daunting after getting so accustomed to the crazy. Rolling onto his side, he tried to memorize Harry. He was always afraid Harry was going to disappear on him again. In a way, this time he was.

"Hey Harry," he said to get the wizard's attention.

"Yeah?"

"Can you kiss me?"

Harry pushed up onto his elbows so he could give Seth an incredulous look.

"Seriously?"

"Please?"

"Seth, I promised your mother."

"It's just a kiss Harry."

"Your sister _will_ find out and she _will_ kill me."

"Please, just, before you have to go," Seth begged in a whisper, "I promise I'll protect you."

"I'll hold you to that, " Harry said in a warning tone.

Then he finally closed the gap. Seth nearly choked; he hadn't expected Harry to actually give in. He didn't know what he'd been thinking asking. Not that he wasn't enjoying it. Gods above, he thought he was going to pass out from being overwhelmed by the kiss the minute he felt Harry's lips on his own. It was different from what he knew kisses were like. Of course, his experience only extended to the one time he'd been kissed by a girl from the rez at a New Years party when he was thirteen. It had been sloppy and weird since neither of them knew what they were doing. The way Harry kissed him was warm and patient, like there was no rush to do anything other than lie there doing just that. Harry stopped for a second then placed another brief kiss on his lips and then another before pulling away completely. Seth was left dazed and having a hard time remembering how to breathe. Gaze unfocused, he watched Harry stand and hold his arm out to him to help him up.

"There's only so long we can be on this detour before Billy blows the whistle on us. We need to get to the supermarket so we at least buy some groceries to prove we were doing what we said we were doing."

Harry sounded all business, but the blush he was wearing let Seth know that he was just as affected by the kiss as he was. He placed his hand in Harry's and let him heft him to his feet. When he tried to reclaim it, the green-eyed man refused to let go. He glanced at him questioningly.

"It's your turn to indulge me," Harry muttered, embarrassed, "At least until we make it back to the road."

Instead of responding, Seth just threaded his fingers with Harry's. He wasn't _going_ to miss Harry. He already did.

.

.

.

* * *

"You ready?"

Bella jumped. Swinging around, she saw Harry propped up against the wall of her bedroom, his face obscured by shadows.

"Yeah. Ready as I will be."

She'd been waiting for him, her backpack slung over her shoulder. He pushed off from the wall and walked over so he stood beside her. In his hand was a... sock. For a second she thought to ask what its importance was, but decided against it. Harry was a wizard. The sock was probably some weird magical instrument or something.

"Hold onto it and don't let go. You should also hold your breath, it might help." She did as he said. "Next stop, France."

All the air whooshed out of her lungs.

"_France_?"

_Pop._

* * *

AN: The song, _Here With Me_ by Dido helped me not give up on this chapter. I've recently gotten into _Roswell_ since I missed the wave when it was out. Boy, talk about your repressed sexual tension, forbidden romance, brooding and what not. Lots of inspiration.


	17. Bargaining

Bargaining (_With the Bloody Devil_)

* * *

_August 14th, 2006_

_Dear Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic,_

_I am requesting an extension of my two month long vacation to a year long sabbatical. Due to some unexpected events, my help is required in the transitioning process of a newborn vampire in Paris, France. For further details, contact the French Ministry. You'll see that all of the necessary paper work for my sabbatical has been filled out and will be on your desk by morning. I am confident that there will be no problems with this._

_Sincerely,_  
_Harry James Potter_  
_Head of the Auror Department_  
_Lord of the House of Potter_  
_Lord of the (Noble) House of Black_  
_Order of Merlin First Class_  
_etc._

_P.S. If asked for my whereabouts, don't tell anyone (anyone with the last name Weasley especially) where I am for at least a week. Make an effort to actually hold out that long, please._

* * *

She sucked in a breath before giving a startled cry of, "Holy crow!" as she took in her surroundings. High ceilings and decor that put even the Cullens's home to shame in looking posh and fancy. Looking out the window, the sun was down and the sky was pitch black. It had been only midday when they'd left Forks. Just where had Harry brought her?

"'Arry!"

The cry drew her attention. Bella watched as a silvery blond blur threw itself at Harry. Once the blur went still, Bella was able to make out a girl about her own age that was just as pretty, if not prettier, than Rosalie. She wore an elegant evening gown and had her arms wrapped tightly around Harry's neck in a firm hug.

"Gabrielle!' Harry said, with some shock, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know 'Arry, zis and zat. _Et toi_? What ees 'appening in zee world of 'Arry Potter? 'Ave you finally come to tell me you are madly in love _avec moi_?"

"Ah, no, sorry," Harry replied, his tone playfully mournful, "I'm still in unrequited love with your sister."

"'Arry!" the girl cried dramatically, swatting at him, "When are you ever going to stop playing 'ard to get?"

"Nice to see you too," Harry said with a laugh, catching her wrists to end her assault, "But unfortunately I'm here on business, so we don't have much time to chat."

"You are no fun 'Arry!" Gabrielle pouted.

"By any chance, is Sanguini here?"

"'Ee ees 'ere. Why do you need to see 'im?"

Harry spared a glance at Bella.

"Business."

"Fine," Gabrielle grumbled, "Do not tell me what ees soooooo important. I supposed you would like me to show you to 'im now, non?"

"If you wouldn't mind?"

The girl huffed before grabbing Bella's arm and linking her own with it.

"Men! 'Ee saves zee world one time, and-" she gestured at Harry, "_Eugh_!"

Shooting a helpless look Harry, she tried to get her panic across, hoping he knew what she should do. He just shrugged and followed them as his crazy friend led the way.

* * *

They found themselves seated in a circular (or was it more oval shaped?) office. The chairs were rather comfy, on the heavenly side of plushy and leather to boot. Harry approved. Bella seemed to be too anxious and confused to appreciate anything. It was amusing giving ambiguous answers to her frantic questions as they waited for Sanguini to arrive. If he knew Gabrielle, she was probably walking at as leisurely a pace as possible to prolong the wait just to spite him. Sanguini loved having non-vampiric company. He was one of the eccentric types that loved associating with humans on a fairly peaceful basis. Of course, he wasn't like the Cullens fully swearing off human blood. He didn't go around killing and massacring people for blood, he actually found people willing to give him it. These days, it wasn't that hard for him to charm some naive little witch into giving him a sip here and there before sending them packing. In Harry's book, that was more kosher than what the Volturi did. Sure, the vampire playboy broke a few hearts here and there, but at least the girls (and sometimes boys) went home to their families, depressed and a tad anemic, but alive.

There was a light knocking on the door before the vampire let himself into his office. He had the same air of practiced indifference most vampires liked to give off to make them seem more mysterious, but Harry could tell the vampire was all excited on the inside. Vaguely, he wondered if Sanguini realized his hair and clothes were in disarray from the obvious speed running he'd done to get to the office. It was likely that Gabrielle had only just announced their presence to him and he'd rushed over the minute the word "guests" had left her lips. The vampire's eyes were moving between him and Bella as if he was a man in a restaurant trying to pick which dish he wanted more. Or maybe which one he wanted first.

"Harry Potter," Sanguini finally said, addressing him first, though his gaze did not leave Bella, "It is wonderful to see you again."

The quick dart of his eyes from her, to him, than back to her conveyed the silent question Sanguini was dying to have an answer to.

"Sanguini." He gave a clipped nod. "It is good to see you as well. This is Bella Cullen, by the way."

Bella gave him a second long look of horror, staring at Sanguini, or more specifically, at his eyes, which were a bright red. Ah, good, he'd eaten recently. Vampires who were sated were usually more receptive to crazy deals like the one Harry was about to propose. He looked at Bella again, and supposed that after all of her dealings with, Bella would be leery of any vampire who drank human blood. Harry had to admit, the red eyes jarred him as well. Part of his disdain for vampires stemmed not only for his distaste for their Malfoy-ish demeanors, but for how much they always managed to remind him of Voldemort. The red eyes. And the fact that they'd been on his side during the war. But mostly the eyes. Considering her apparent unease with Sanguini, he hoped Bella wouldn't fight him too hard on this next step of the plan. It was the most important part, and if she changed her mind now, it all came undone.

"Enchanted," Sanguini near purred, dipping his head in Bella's direction as if in greeting, "Not that I am unhappy to be entertaining the two of you, but I was about to spend the evening out with Miss Delacour."

"I'm sure," the wizard said dryly, "I am sorry to be inconveniencing you, but I had some things I needed to discuss with you that could not be delayed."

"Oh?"

"My friend Bella has been put in a problematic situation with the Volturi, who wish to 'acquire' her."

He only barely fought the smile that was threatening to form at the sound of Sanguini's disgusted hiss at the name. This was why he had come to Sanguini of all vampires.

"That _scum_..." the vampire ground out before relaxing again. He looked at Bella again, his expression kind, "I am sorry you ever had to come into contact with those poor excuses of vampire kind."

"But I thought that the Volturi were like vampire royalty," Bella said confused, "You don't like them?"

"Royalty? You would never find me bowing to the likes of them any time soon." Sanguini laughed bitterly. "They are little more than brutish thugs with the biggest clubs. I do not associate with their kind."

"Anyways," Harry interrupted, sensing an oncoming rant, "We need your help."

"Harry," Sanguini said, this time his tone lacking any kindness or usual charm, "While I do hold you in high regard for a mortal, and I am sympathetic to Miss Cullen's plight, I cannot shield her from the Volturi. It is simply not within my power to guard against their full wrath, as loath as I am to admit it."

"I understand. And I wouldn't ask that of you."

"So what is it you are asking of me then?"

"I would like you to make Bella a vampire."

"What?" Bella exclaimed.

"That is a very strange request Harry."

"The condition the Volturi gave her was that she must be turned before they came to check up on her or else they would do it themselves. You are the only vampire I trust to change her."

"Wait, Harry, I-"

"Harry," Sanguini said, cutting off Bella's would be complaint, "I hope you understand what you are asking me to do." His eyes slid over to Bella. "What you are asking me to do to you friend. Does she even wish to be a vampire?"

Both Harry and Sanguini looked at Bella. Nervous at being put on the spot, she averted her eyes.

"I did - do! - want to be a vampire. I just... didn't think that the person turning me would be a stranger."

There was a sad slope of defeat in the slump of her shoulders. So that's what had Bella so upset.

"I'm sorry Bella. I know you wanted Edward to be the one to make you a vampire. But you know the laws. It can't be him, or any of the Cullens."

"I know."

Understanding didn't make her sound any less disappointed.

"I am willing to pay for anything you need to help in her transition as a newborn," Harry offered, returning his attention to Sanguini who seemed to be lost in thought.

Sanguini waved his hand dismissively.

"That's not necessary. I have the facilities ready for the change. She won't be the first childe I've ever made."

"Brilliant!" Harry grinned. "So you're willing to help us out?"

"Ah ah ah." The male seated on the other side of the desk shook his long pale finger at them. "While the chance to taste your lovely companion's blood would be delightful, I'm not altruistic enough to change her out of the goodness of my heart. What is in it for me?"

"Name your price and I'll pay it."

"Now Harry. You and I both know money is no object for either of us. I want something...special."

Harry's grin faltered.

"What do you want from Harry?" Bella asked, wary for his sake.

"Some of his blood."

Unconsciously, Harry scratched at his right arm, just below the elbow. Blood. It was always about the blood.

"You want to drink it right?" In unison, Bella and Sanguini gave him very, "well duh," looks. "Just checking."

"So I may have some of your blood?" Sanguini asked, his excited eyes darkening a fraction in _hungerlust_.

"Yeah. So long as all you're doing with my blood is ingesting it, and not selling it on the black market or something. And only you can have it. No sharing with any other weird vampires."

One of Sanguini's perfectly sculpted eyebrows arched.

"Of course." He sat back in his chair. "When would you like to be changed Miss Cullen?"

"Um..." she looked at Harry before answering, "As soon as possible, please."

"I'd do it now. But I do still have a date with Miss Delacour. I wouldn't want to keep her waiting any longer than I already have. She's already in a terrible mood."

He shot a pointed look at Harry.

"Sorry about that."

"Will tomorrow afternoon be acceptable? It will give you time to sleep and maybe eat one last, good meal. Trust me when I say you will miss those aspects of being human Miss Cullen."

"Alright," Bella agreed with a nod.

"Then I will show you two to your rooms for the night before I depart," Sanguini said, standing and making his way around the desk. Harry and Bella both stood as well, "Oh, and Harry, we'll discuss when I get to have your blood tomorrow as well."

* * *

They were eventually brought to two luxuriously furnished rooms that were adjoined by a bathroom. Sanguini left them quickly after that, only staying long enough to inform them that if they needed anything else, to call on the house elves. Harry had some fun trying to explain the concept of house elves to Bella, who had much the same opinion to the institution of house elves as Hermione did. Both of them had some trouble trying to get to sleep. The time difference left them wide-awake when it was getting well into the evening in France. Afraid to be on her own, Bella had insisted on staying in his room with him and had taken over the couch. He didn't bother trying to explain to her how inappropriate it was for her, as a newly married woman, to be spending a night in the same room as another man who was not her husband. That ship had sailed a long time ago when she agreed to travel by herself with him. Besides, he was spoken for now if the soul bond had anything to say about it.

There was no thinking about anyone else anymore. Seth had seen to that. Harry was positive Gabrielle had tried a little bit of her Veela pull on him earlier today, but he hadn't felt anything. The only thing he'd been thinking about was how much he wished he were holding Seth instead. In the past, he wasn't as affected by the Veela allure as most males, like Ron, were, but he still felt the tug of attraction to Fleur back then. Was the imprint really strong enough to throw off creature pull like that? He pushed those questions away. That really wasn't what he wanted to concentrate on right now. Bella was sitting swathed in blankets and blocked in by pillows on the couch. All of her attention was focused on the book she was reading, which, if he was seeing it right was Wuthering Heights. Sighing, he got in bed, too lazy to go brush his teeth or change into his night clothing. Switching off the bedside lamp, he rolled on to his side so he faced away from Bella and her reading light.

On the pillow in front of him, his mirror sat, ready for him to answer if Seth called.

* * *

AN: What took me so long with this chapter was deciding whether or not I wanted to skip the year gone. Originally, I planned to move forward and write the year in a separate fic. As shown in this chapter, I'm going through with writing the year gone instead. I'm certainly not going to write it blow for blow, every day, and excruciating detail. Just highlights of Harry and Bella's excellent adventure (or is it bogus?). I don't think I'd be able to keep Harry away from Seth that many chapters anyway.


	18. Burn

Burn (_Baby Burn_)

* * *

_Dear Jake,_

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry about how worthless reading this will be to you. I'm a coward. A big fat coward, for not coming to see you. I didn't have the courage to tell you I was marrying Edward. And I didn't have the courage to tell my best friend to his face that I'm leaving._

_I think I didn't see you because I knew you'd stop me. Either you'd somehow convince me to not go or you'd pretty much tie me to a chair so I couldn't. Thank you for caring so much. I know everything you did, everything you said, you did to save me. But you can't save me all of the time. It's not your job. Not yours, not Edward's, not anyone. I take care of myself. I make my decisions for myself. And I'm sorry that they always seem to hurt you most in the end._

_The next time I come home, I will be a vampire. It's not the Cullens's fault. And don't you dare think for a second it was your fault that you couldn't stop me. There was a way to do it without any bloodshed and I chose it. You may never forgive me, but at lease try to understand. I don't want anyone fighting over me, fighting for me, ever again. So stop fighting Jake. There's nothing to fight for anymore._

_Love forever,_  
_Bella_

* * *

Sanguini had warned him not to stay with Bella during her change. He didn't forbid it, merely told him it was incredibly inadvisable to be around. The first day would be messy and hard to watch because Bella would be in a lot of pain. When it was done, he'd have a dangerous, hungry newborn Bella on his hands. Though the vampire knew he was a trained auror and capable of defending himself, he believed Harry's ability to defend himself would be impaired against someone he was attached to. Harry had scoffed when Sanguini said this, but knew that in reality, it was very possible he could freeze up when she attacked. Still, he hadn't let Sanguini deter him from being at her side through the entire process. Part of him wanted to be there to comfort her as it happened. Another, curious, part of him just wanted to see it. Know how it happened.

Fangs sunk into her neck, wrists, and ankles. Harry had looked away for decency's sake when Sanguini pulled away her shirt down so he could inject his own venom straight into her heart. He'd explained that that was the most important step. The faster the venom circulated through her bloodstream before her body started shutting down, the faster the change would finish. Her heart would pump the venom and the bites at her extremities would cover the rest. Bella had closed her eyes, not wanting to see Sanguini bite her. It wasn't that she was scared, it was more she was pretending in her mind it was actually Edward doing it. Harry had had a little laugh over it, and teased her some, but he understood. It was a comfort. This wasn't the ideal circumstance. She was nervous, so nervous she was projecting it all over the room. It was all excitement, and fear, and worry, and Harry was glad she had something good to think about to keep her mind off of it all. Especially when it began.

Bella screamed.

Not long after the first bite, her back arched and began to thrash upon the bed. She screamed so loud, and for so long, and Harry winced listening to her. The sheer volume hurt his ears. The agony behind her screams were the likes of which he only heard come from people experiencing the cruciatus curse, the worst pain one wizard or witch could inflict on another person. It was like the scream he heard when he relived the time in Malfoy manner in his nightmares. When he and Ron were forced to listen behind bars as Bellatrix tortured Hermione. And the bitch had done it just so that they would hear it. Hear it and know they were helpless to stop her, to save Hermione from crucio after crucio. Harry felt much the same helplessness watching Bella go through the burn. After two, three, he stopped checking the time after long, hours of screaming Harry had to remind himself Bella had asked for this. Bella had wanted this for herself.

For the life of him, staring down at her, he couldn't understand why.

* * *

When she finally stopped, he couldn't help but be relieved. Half of the time he wanted to silence her, the rest he wanted to step out of the room and sit in the hallway where nothing escaped from the sound proofed room. Give himself some reprieve from having to listen to such intense suffering. But he hadn't been a Gryffindor for nothing. He'd pressed on through the entirety, even when it was foolishly noble and unnecessary to do so. No one would've blamed him for having to leave, not Sanguini, not Gabrielle, not anyone.

She began crying, whimpering, and it near alarmed him when she started begging him, anyone, to kill her if only to stop the burning. Once again, if not for remembering Sanguini's warning this would happen, he would've have excused himself. Instead, he took her hand, running a hand across her sweat-slicked forehead and patting her head. He sincerely hoped that his presence was doing something for her as he whispered soothing things to her. Memories she'd relayed to him over breakfast. She'd told him them so that he could tell her during her change, to help her remember. Reminded her of how wonderful it would be once she came out of it, how much her Edward loved her, of her family and friends and all of the fun times they'd had together. When he couldn't think of anything else she'd told him, he'd summoned her book and started reading passages of it to her until he fell asleep.

* * *

By the end of her first day, Bella had needed to be cleaned. It was only at that point that Harry had been forced out and Gabrielle had taken over Bella duty. Bella had officially "died" and her dead body had begun purging itself of all the unnecessary wastes. Harry had not put up too much of a fight over this. If Bella found out that he'd had a hand in cleaning and redressing her, she'd probably kill him in her volatile state or something. He'd been pleasantly surprised by how much Gabrielle was doing to help out. Of course, she complained the entire way through it, claiming that bringing food for Harry and checking in on them was "house elf's work." But she did it when at any time she could have called for the house elves to come and take over. Not to mention every time she came in, she didn't even try to flirt with Harry or throw any fits, just inquired after Bella's progress.

The largest part of the first day had been the toughest for Bella. It seemed that the process of her getting the venom all through her still living body was what made it so painful, because it was a natural reaction for her body to fight the venom, to fight dying. It was a losing battle, and resulted in the fever burn and excruciating muscle contortion she experienced. After that was finally over, Bella lay very still. She didn't fidget, or shift in her almost sleeping state. But her facial features were still twisted in a way that told Harry she wasn't quite out of the woods. He started again with the memories and the reading, and when Gabrielle came in again to bring him food, she chose to stay and sing to Bella French lullabies Harry only recognized every other word of. The soft, beautiful sound and his full stomach helped lull him back off to sleep.

* * *

He woke to the sound of his joints popping and his fingers breaking.

Gabrielle was at his side, wand out and yelling and shouting incantations. It took a minute for Harry to realize the hand he'd been holding that had been lying limply in his own was now stone cold and clenched tightly. He could literally feel the bones of his fingers starting to be crushed. Minor discomfort quickly shifted to agony as he tried to reclaim his fingers from Bella's increasing death grip. A second after, his hand was free. Gabrielle had been swift in removing the new vampire's hand from his own, and if Harry was to go off of just what he was feeling, he'd say it was not a second too soon. Any later, and he would've lost his fingers to her.

Cradling his hand to his chest, he looked at Bella. Her eyelids remained pulled over her eyes, but there was rapid movement going on underneath them. She was shifting a little, almost as if she were waking up. In his pained state, he figured she probably was. As fast as he could manage with his uninjured left arm, he pulled out his wand and shot off a patronus to inform Sanguini of the situation. It was just his and Gabrielle's luck that Bella had chose to finish her transformation a whole day earlier than what estimated time Sanguini had told them she would finish at. Slowly, he turned his wand back on Bella, just as Gabrielle had done.

The sound of the door opening and shutting let them know Sanguini arrived. Both Harry and Gabrielle glanced at him with relief though they didn't lower their wands. There were some anti-aggression wards among other things to help fend off an attack if Bella chose to come at them. But as a newborn, Bella had the potential to still over come them, which was why they needed to remain on guard. Now that Sanguini was here, their odds of restraining her were better. Harry motioned to Gabrielle to back up with them so that Sanguini was at the forefront to deal with Bella once she was fully conscious. They waited with baited breath, watching as Bella continued to come too.

"It's time to wake up, dear," Sanguini said almost lovingly, moving to Bella's bedside and petting her hair.

She gave a groan in response.

"You're done changing already. Rather remarkable, I admit. Even witches require the same amount of time to go through the entire process as normal muggles. You have them beat by an entire day."

"Ugh...Nnnn..." came a rasp, "th..."

The older vampire leaned in to try and hear was she was trying to say.

"Th...Thir...ssss...Thir..."

"Ah." Sanguini nodded. "Thirsty."

Both Harry and Gabrielle tensed.

"You would be. You've gone two days without anything."

Bella gave two jerky nods though she didn't open her eyes.

"Try not to take any breaths. We have humans in our company. If you smell them, you may not be able to stop yourself. You are not to drink from them."

His words hung ominously in the air. Bella chose to nod once more.

"Good. Can you open your eyes?"

In answer, Bella's eyes fluttered open. Harry couldn't help starting at the blazing red her irises now were. His motion drew her attention immediately. At first, her gaze was unfocused and confused. For a second, he wondered if she even remembered who he was. Everyone watched her warily as she lifted one arm. Even her own movement distracted her, looking at her own arm with wonder. She flexed her wrist and waved her arm experimentally before blinking, as if she'd just remembered something. With more awareness, she looked back at Harry and pointed at him questioning.

"Yes?" Sanguini inquired, curious.

"Hurt... Did I?"

"Amazing," Sanguini said to himself, before turning fractionally to see Harry, but keeping his body angled at Bella, "She has such control. Why, she hasn't even made a single move to attack you. She's actually showing remorse over your injury."

"Yeah," Harry mumbled, a jolt of pain lanced through his hand, reminding him it was still very broken.

"Thirsty..." Bella said again, with urgency, clutching at Sanguini's coat sleeve, "Blood... Smell too good. Can't stand... much longer."

"I suppose I must ask you to leave for now, Harry, Gabrielle," Sanguini pronounced, "Bella's control is strong, but we shouldn't push our luck so much this early on."

Gabrielle was nodding and retreating the minute he said that. Harry held back a bit longer, concerned.

"Are you going to help her, I dunno, feed, hunt, whatever?"

"It's a bit too early for hunting right now. I have some fresh blood stored for her."

"Is it human blood?" Harry asked.

"Why of course, what else could it be?"

A frown worked its way onto Harry's face.

"Animal blood. Bella only wants to drink animal blood."

"Really?" Sanguini asked, astonished.

The vampire looked down at Bella inquisitively. She nodded her agreement.

"Fascinating. I didn't even know that a strictly animal blood diet was possible."

Harry snorted, "More like you probably never bothered finding out."

"True," Sanguini chuckled, "Hmm. That does cause some problems. I suppose I can find something on short notice. The dame down the street has several cats. She probably won't miss one or two. Maybe I'll take one for myself, just to see what it tastes like."

Holding back the urge to retch at the thought of Sanguini and Bella snacking on some poor old woman's cats, Harry finally decided to leave. Sanguini accompanied him, a couple of steps after.

"Harry..."

He paused at the door, and waited for Bella to speak.

"Thanks... for being there."

"No problem."

Both he and Sanguini exited after that, Sanguini bolting the magic enforced door so Bella couldn't break free if her blood lust got the better of her. The minute they were out, Harry finally let his guard down sagging into the wall, whilst gingerly holding his right arm to himself. The vampire peered down at his mangled hand.

"Would you like me to call a mediwitch over for that?"

"Merlin's gnome infested pubes, yes, please yes."

"Never a dull moment with you, Harry," Sanguini threw over his shoulder as he disappeared down the all.

"I think I resent that," Harry muttered, before heading to his room to see if he had any potions he could dose himself with into oblivion while he waited for the mediwitch.

* * *

AN: First I want to apologize. This is probably the longest I've gone without updating or notice. I've been really unmotivated with this story lately, partially cause I've been feeling under the weather. The other part of it is that I write it very spur of the moment, if I feel inspired to write a new chapter. Nothing's been coming for a while. I think I'm going to have a little more luck with the next chapter because I've already started brainstorming what will go into it. We'll see.

AN2: This is another one of those, "I hate this" chapters. I felt really good about Bella's letter, but not about everything else. Hope it doesn't suck as bad to you guys as it does to me.

A3: I finally watched _Eclipse_. I hated most of it, but I loved Jasper, I loved the fighting, and I loved Seth! Eee! Boo Boo Stewart was adorable.


	19. Meeting

Meeting (_For Business or For Pleasure?)_

* * *

_Witch Weekly_

_POTTER SIGHTING: AT LAST_

_Wanda Norbecker_

_It has certainly been a while hasn't it? The wizarding world at large has been without its latest juicy celebrity gossip. All we have been left with is the latest potions abuse scandal of waning music star Stubby Boardman. That is why we're proud to announce, and you're hearing it from this source, Witch Weekly, first, that Harry Potter has been spotted. Our Potter dry spell is hopefully at its end after so many months without our hottest celebrity._

_For the last ten months, Potter seemed to have just fallen off the continent. After speaking to the Ministry, all the information we received was a statement from Percy Weasley, Undersecretary to the Minister, saying that Potter decided to take a vacation. When asked, his closest friends Hermione Weasley, DMLE (Department of Magical Law Enforcement) in the Ministry, and her husband Ronald Weasley, auror and partner in the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes franchise, were tight lipped about his whereabouts. Which left us to wonder, just what has Harry Potter been up to on his vacation?_

_We here at Witch Weekly think we have our answer. A witch reader, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent in a picture of what she believed to be our illustrious Mr. Potter (see above) at Honeydukes in Hogsmeade not to long ago. Authenticity checks have been done, and we believe that this is in fact an actual picture of Potter accompanied by a young woman. Their relationship cannot be determined fully, but the witch who spotted the two claims that the couple appeared quite familiar with one another. Has Potter finally found love again?_

_All of you diehard Potter girls know about his painful divorce from ex-wife Ginny Weasley. After their split, the mad scramble to be the next witch to capture him began. Well ladies, looks like our hunt might be over, someone seems to have bagged him at last! Unfortunately, we don't have a name for the mystery woman who's stolen our savior's heart. Just who are we to send the congratulations (itch powder laced howlers) to? No one knows. We here at Witch Weekly encourage anyone with information about Potter's newest girlfriend to send it in._

* * *

"This feels like a bad idea."

"Say something I haven't heard before."

"Are you sure we need to involve him like this? Wouldn't it have been easier if I handled it on my own?"

"I find it strange that I have more faith in this guy than you do in him. You are the one who actually knows him personally and actually likes him."

"You and I both know this has nothing to do with how I feel about Carlisle," Bella growled, "This has to do with Edward finding out about the meeting. You do remember what happened in Arles, don't you?"

Harry snorted.

"That was your own damn fault Bella. You're the one who couldn't resist making a phone call to your precious Edward. With all of the resources the Cullens possess, it's not that much of a surprise you're control freak husband decided to trace the call so he could hunt you down."

"Don't say that about Edward," the woman immediately retorted, though it came as more of an automatic response than her taking actual offense at the insult, "Anyways, before you tried to turn this around on me, the point I was trying to make is that we don't want Edward getting involved. Even though I'd trust Carlisle with my life, I don't know if he'd be able to keep things from Edward."

"Edward's mind reading thing right?"

"Yeah. Even if he wanted to keep it from Edward, Edward could still take the information from his head."

"Have I ever told you how much I hate mind readers?"

"Several times."

"Well, I think you should've trusted Carlisle's ability to keep secrets a little more, cause I think that's him over there heading our way."

Swinging around to look in the direction Harry had gestured in, Bella saw her father-in-law striding purposefully in their direction. She couldn't help the large smile at the sight of him. It had been such a long time since she'd seen a familiar face from back home. She darted forward, as quickly as she could manage at was deemed a human speed, and embraced the other vampire. There was a second of hesitation before his arms circled her and he returned the hug.

"Bella?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"Hey Carlisle," she said, pulling away.

"I barely recognized you."

"Am I really that different looking?" she asked, concerned.

"You still look like you did, just more, refined," he replied, trying to find the right way to describe her appearance, "You look lovely. Edward will be blown away when you two finally reunite."

She dipped her head in embarrassment at his compliment.

"Thank you for keeping this from Edward. I know it must have been difficult considering how close the two of you are."

"Don't forget his mind reading," Harry piped in.

"It was no trouble. I understand your need for secrecy from him. Edward has been going stir crazy in your absence." He glanced at her again. "You've been busy Bella. How has your time as a newborn been so far?"

"Interesting," she remarked, shooting a glance at Harry.

"I must say, you seem to be doing very well. You've been this way for less than a year yet we're standing in the presence of a human and you're not going into the usual blood frenzy most newborns do. It's astonishing."

"Not that this isn't a touching reunion," Harry drawled, interrupting Carlisle's impromptu status check of Bella, "But we have business to attend to."

Carlisle gave Harry a curious, assessing look.

"Yes, I remember Bella said something about that when she called about needing my help. Does this business have something to do with what Bella has been doing away for the last eight months?"

"Yes," Harry answered, "I don't know if you were aware, but every country has a magical community and each community has a government. There is even one here in America."

"Really?" Carlisle asked, intrigued.

"We are actually standing right in front of the entrance."

Both vampires gave him looks of varying levels of incredulity. The male vampire was still amazed at the existence of a magical community. Bella was more stunned at the fact any magical community would choose a dilapidated, abandoned building in Lawrence, Kansas to hide the entrance in. Not that Harry's description of wizard Britain was any better with their telephone booth and toilet elevators. Just what was with wizards and their obnoxious ways of traveling? It was a shame that she and Carlisle couldn't use any of the usual methods due to their status as vampires. It was incompatible with their unique physiology and lack of natural living energies. She'd thought that flooing was kind of cool, though the fact she'd pretty much die put a damper on that.

The man stepped forward and pulled the rotted, creaking door open. Bella was surprised it didn't fall off with even that much contact.

"Go on," he said, nodding his head to get them to go in.

She and Carlisle shared a glance before doing as Harry said. The minute they crossed the threshold, Bella was sure her jaw would fall to the floor. They'd walked into a tiny ramshackle old apartment building, but what was staring back at them was something wholly different. A large open room, set up in a professional, sort of boring way, lay before them. The wall to their back was lined with chairs of all sorts with what she assumed were American witches and wizards, seated in them waiting. It reminded her a bit of a very large DMV office. She didn't have much more time to look at anything because Harry was ushering them over to the desk right in the center of the room where a harassed looking brunette woman sat, shuffling frantically through the multitudes of paper on hidden surface of the desk.

"Hello."

The woman didn't look up. Harry frowned.

"Hello?"

This time he tried waving in her face. The woman gave a start and sat up to look at them. She squinted, having a hard time trying to discern who was trying to get her attention.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, we have an appointment with Head of the DRCMC, Derrial Book," Harry said.

Nodding, she reached for a clipboard and started looking through a list of names and appointments. Her eyes paused on his, and then went wide.

"You're Harry Potter!"

Bella heard Harry give an aggravated sigh.

"Yes. Now about that appointment-"

"Thank you so much for what you did! I have family in Britain, I was so scared when the war started and-and-Wow, you have really beautiful eyes... And you know, this Thursday-"

"You're welcome," he said, cutting her off. Bella winced at his tone, which was forcibly polite. He usually used that tone when he was really annoyed with her or Sanguini. The end result was usually several pieces of furniture being destroyed as a result. Harry glanced quickly at her nameplate, "Now, Miss Kaylee, I don't mean to be rude, but my _friends_ and I would really like to be on our way to our appointment."

Her eyes slid over to her and Carlisle and she jumped again, recognizing what they were.

"O-O-Of course! Um, take that door, number twenty-three, no! I mean, thirty-two, the blue one. His office will be at the end of the hall..." the secretary trailed off, so embarrassed, it would be a blessing if the floor opened up and swallowed her whole.

"Thank you."

Harry turned on his heel and headed for the indicated door, not waiting for his companions to follow. Not that he needed to. They followed the woman's instructions, passing through another room that reminded Bella of a regular office on crack. There were flying creatures buzzing overhead, ill-tempered short creatures stalking around and if she wasn't mistaken, what looked a unicorn's head just visible over the maze of cubicles next to a very large man that had the side of his head, neck and shoulder pressed against the ceiling as if the room wasn't big enough for him to fit. It probably wasn't. Eventually, they made it to the door with a plaque on it that said in plain lettering: D. Book, Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Seated at the desk was an older, dark skinned man wearing a black suit and glasses, reading through the papers in his hand. He set them down as Harry, Bella and Carlisle entered his office.

"Hey," he said, standing, "You must be Mr. Potter and his guests."

"Yup," Harry said.

Derrial held out his hand to shake, and Harry took it.

"It's a pleasure," Derrial said with an easy smile. He withdrew his hand and sat back down, gesturing for all of them to do the same, "So why don't we get down to business? What brings Harry Potter all the way from England over here with a couple of vampires?"

"It's complicated, but the basics of it is that I am filing to become the legal guardian of a coven of vampires."

At her side, Bella saw Carlisle sit forward. Derrial looked surprised.

"You want to become the guardian of a vampire coven?"

"Yes," Harry replied, "One of its members has sought my protection against the Volturi and other threats, and I want to do all I can to ensure it."

"Hmm." Derrial rested his forearms on the desk, his expression serious. "This is a very unusual request Mr. Potter, one we haven't had in centuries. You do realize that if you become their guardian, you will become legally responsible for their well-being and actions. You'll have to not only protect them but also ensure that they do not act in a manner that will bring not only the Volturi but us in as well. Any wrong they do, you could potentially be penalized for it."

"Harry," Bella tried to say.

"I already knew those were the consequences Bella. If it were any other coven but yours, I would not be making this offer. But from what you and Seth have told me about them, I know for a fact this is safe bet."

"What makes you so sure about them Mr. Potter?" Derrial asked, interested.

"Carlisle, the vampire to my right, is the head of the coven. He's been a vampire for several centuries but has abstained from human blood. He's only ever changed humans who were on the brink of death and has taught the members of his coven to preserve human life and only drink from animals. I've never met more peaceful, good vampires in my entire time as part of the wizarding world. His coven actually put down a newborn army uprising almost a year ago preying upon Seattle, Washington," Harry explained.

By the end of Harry's explanation, Derrial looked visibly shaken. The man looked to Carlisle.

"Is that true? About the newborn army?"

"Yes," Carlisle answered.

Derrial sunk back into his chair, looking worn and weary.

"I'm sorry we were unable to do anything to stop that from happening. If we had known, we would have intervened. Unfortunately, the Ministry has been experiencing major upheaval since we discovered several individuals involved in very dark dealings within many of the Ministry's departments. We've only just started getting back on our legs since Minister Reynolds cleaned them out. He's instated new policy and promoted people like myself into the positions of those fired," Derrial said, his voice full of anger and regret.

"I understand," Harry said, "The British Ministry experience something similar after Voldemort was taken care of."

Nodding, Derrial composed himself.

"From what you have told me about the coven, and from what I know of your reputation, I think I don't see anymore problems with your endeavor." Derrial pushed back from his desk a little, opened a drawer and started searing through it. It took several minutes, but he eventually pulled out a packet of forms and handed them to Harry. "You and Carlisle, as the head of the coven, will need to sign all of these. Once you're done, you'll need to take them over to Zoe Torres in the DMLE as well as Inara Serra in the DIA. They'll both have approve them before I can file them and give you the certificate naming you guardian."

Harry had started signing the minute he had the papers in his hands, passing the ones Carlisle had to sign as well as a pen over to the dazed vampire. They continued to sign in silence, and Bella awkwardly tried to engage Joseph in conversation. It wasn't so bad, the man was very agreeable in a grandfatherly way. Once Harry and Carlisle had finished, they thanked Joseph for his time and left the DRCMC and made their way over to the DMLE and DIA. Both women turned out to be very friendly and agreeable when they met and approved the papers with no trouble. This put Harry into a very good mood. He even waved at Kaylee on their way back over to the DRCMC, who was chatting up a man holding the hand of the little girl standing next to him. When he handed the papers over to Derrial and received the certificate, he felt the rush of magic as the contract was sealed. Turning to Bella and Carlisle, he gave them a smile.

"You and your family don't have to worry about the Volturi anymore. So how about we all go home?"

Bella cheered so loud, she thought she'd burst some eardrums. She ran forward and hugged Harry. She did it carefully, because she knew she could break him like a twig, and lifting and swinging him around, chanting over and over again how thankful she was for him helping them out. Carlisle was at his shoulder, clapping him on the back, gratitude in his eyes for being so willing to protect his family. But Harry wasn't in that moment with them anymore. He was somewhere on the other side of the country where he'd wanted to be all these months away. Someone was there, waiting anxiously for him to return. The person he'd really done all of this for.

And he didn't have to wait for him to come back anymore.

* * *

AN1: Lots of things going on in this chapter (at least in my mind) but it was kind of rushed and boring (and longer than usual). I actually initially intended one more chapter of Bella and Harry's excellent adventure, but decided this was where I pulled the plug on the side story. Next chapter is gonna be what Seth's been up to. Yay! Seth.

AN2: I've finally figured it out. Where I got inspiration for this Harry. Darren Criss's version of Harry in _A Very Potter Musical_. Go see it if you haven't yet. You'll totally get it. And it's totally awesome.

AN3: If you have theories about the American Ministry, you're probably right. Two shows (one lightly and one heavily) referenced. _Disclaimer: Any characters or info used belongs to Kripke and Whedon._

AN4: I loooooove unicorns. And Darren Criss. He is my OTP (One True Potter).


	20. Days

Days (_Months, Years, It's All Kind of Relative_)

* * *

Having Harry for how long he'd had him- and it hadn't been that long- and then having him suddenly gone had been a shock to his system. Maybe he was hallucinating it, but Seth was positive he felt the distance between them, knew the minute Harry had left Forks. He'd felt empty and listless and hadn't eaten dinner that night. His mom and Leah had been concerned when he'd nearly slept the next day through. Ever since his bout of unwellness after losing Harry the first time, his family had grown extremely sensitive to his moods and his sleep schedule. Instinctively, Leah knew something was up and that it had to do with Harry. Seth had been uncooperative the whole way, not for a second betraying what Harry had been planning. He didn't like what Harry was doing, and he liked even less that it was taking Harry away from him.

Thankfully, he ended up not having to be the one to explain what was going on.

Jake had been sent a letter without a return address. He'd been worrying himself to death over Bella being turned by the Cullens, trying to convince Sam to make a move before they changed her. The day the letter showed up, it was like the world ended for Jacob Black. He'd actually gone to the Cullens to confirm what the letter had said. Leah had filled him in later that she and Quil and Embry had been sent to follow him and make sure he didn't do anything stupid, like trying to attack the Cullens. She had commented on how eerily civil the two were with one another. Considering it was Jake, it was miraculous that the first thing on Jake's mind hadn't been on killing any of the Cullens. No, it was more along the lines Jake swearing he'd hunt down Harry and string him up by his intestines. Apparently, Edward had even give Jake his blessing. Maybe having an enemy in common really was a bonding experience. Seth would've rejoiced in Edward and Jake finally taking steps towards friendship if it wasn't over the promise of his imprint's brutal murder by the person Seth had grown to admire and love as an older brother.

A week later, Jake disappeared. All he left behind was a note for his father:

_"I'm going to England. Don't look for me." _

Sam had monitored the link until he'd lost connection with Jake somewhere in Canada. It was with a grim face that he informed them all that Jake was planning to make his way through Canada all the way to Greenland and somehow get his way over to England. Even if he had to swim the rest of the way. Seth had made sure to give Harry the heads up that night that Jake was coming for him. At least Harry had had the sense to take the possible threat seriously. The boy was worried enough, and he didn't need Harry shrugging off his concerns.

Once the fear and unrest over Jake's departure had settled, the pack turned on him. It didn't take much for them to figure out that Seth had had some idea about Harry's plan before it had happened. All of them had been angry and accusatory. They threw around ideas that Harry had been conspiring with the Cullens the entire time. There was even the stray thought of Seth being a traitor. It made for an unpleasant evening with the pack and an even more unpleasant while following it. Seth neglecting to inform the pack had to be punished. Somehow, Sam and the rest of the pack seemed to be under the impression that they could've stopped Harry, taken preventative measures. None of them could've stopped Harry. If Seth couldn't have stopped him, they would've never had a chance. The punishment for not speaking was the equivalent of being grounded, he wasn't allowed to participate in anything pack related. He was not to attend pack meetings, patrol, or even shift anymore. With Harry far away, the pack virtually shunning him and it still being summer, Seth was left lonely, bored, and unsure what to do with his free time.

So Seth did the only thing he could think of to end his boredom.

His solution was to get himself a job, a hobby and maybe a pet. Not all in that order either. He'd tried his hand at a pet first. The cat hated both him and Leah, and ran away the second day he was there. Not to be deterred, Seth tried hobbies next. He found it was really easy to get into books and reading when you had nothing better to be doing or people to be hanging out with. He'd found himself done with half of the books his teacher had put on the book list for the upcoming year. And some of the ones from last year that he was supposed to have read but never did. No one except the nerds ever actually read all of the books on the book list. That was what sparknotes was for. That was what Seth was becoming though. A nerd. Holed up in his room reading. When he wasn't doing that he was at the library holed up reading there. His mom didn't even have him doing chores anymore. It was like she was concerned that he was going to crack up if she pushed him too much to do anything.

He found a job next, something to distract from reading so much. They had a whole board up in the back of the library with offers for jobs in the county, so he ripped all of the phone number slips off of each of the fliers. It had to have been just his luck that when he tried for each and every one of them, they turned him away because they wanted someone just a bit older and more experienced. Except for one place. The old run down book store. They were looking for a part-timer who could work later hours and would be willing to participate in their program for tutoring rez kids who couldn't afford normal tutoring.

Apparently, there was no running from books. No matter where you ran, they found you.

Seth decided to just give up and accept that he was becoming a nerd.

* * *

Months into Harry being gone and Seth felt less hopeful on that front every day. Harry never put an exact date on when he'd be coming back during their mirror calls. He said that there'd probably be a couple months to go, but it just wasn't enough. School in a way helped take his mind off of things. He'd shown up in fall and breezed through the material the teachers threw his way. Not having issues with grades or teachers was a problem he was happy not having. It also made his mom really happy, so things were fairly peaceful at home as well.

One thing that was really putting him on edge was all the attention he'd been getting as of late. From girls. When he'd asked Leah about it, she'd scoffed, punched him on the shoulder, and explained that as a boy who was now apparently smart, had a job, tutored less privileged children, had a licence and a car (courtesy of Billy, who'd loaned him Jake's now unused Rabbit), and, she eyed him, was fairly good looking, he was probably the most eligible bachelor at school. His cheeks had gone really dark at that. Leah had had the audacity to laugh at him. And after a couple of minutes, her laughter became even more uproarious.

"Oh my God! What happens when they find out you're gay?"

Needless to say, Seth decided to never talk to Leah about anything serious ever again.

But what she'd said had been rather eye opening. He was no longer oblivious to just why the girls kept on trying to get his attention, or got flustered when around him. Sure, he was flattered that they were interested. Seth was just vain enough to be proud of the fact that he was a, quote-unquote, "great catch." To his amazement, Judy, the girl he'd had an enormous crush on last year before school had ended, was one of the ones putting the most effort into getting him to go out with her. For a minute, Seth thought about what it would've been like if he'd never imprinted on Harry, would he have still liked Judy? It was a startling thought that yes, he probably would've and by now, he'd be dating her without any reservations. Like what any normal teenage boy would be doing. And he'd bring her home and his mom would invite her to dinner and his sister would probably give her the "hurt him and you die" speech before they became the best of friends. And maybe, if they were happy, and they stayed together for the next couple of years, Seth could've married that girl. Together they'd have had a home and little Seths and Judys.

By the time he'd gotten that far into his thought process, something in the back of his head that had been getting louder and angrier at what he was thinking started fighting to come to the forefront of his mind.

_Imprint!_

_HarryHarryHarry!_

This relationship with Harry would never be as perfect as the one he envisioned himself having with Judy. It would be years until they could openly date because of his age. His family didn't like, and in Leah's case, hated, Harry. Harry lived all the way in England. And Harry was a guy. Harry was a guy and in many people's eyes it was wrong for them to be together because they were two guys. He looked a the kids from the rez he tutored. He'd gotten fond of the brats and had started to think about how he wouldn't mind having some of his own some day. But he never would have kids. The reality of his relationship was hitting him now harder than it ever had before. With all of the downsides and the terrible mood he was in, even with the imprint, he was having a hard time reminding himself why he was waiting for Harry.

* * *

There was a Christmas Eve party going on downstairs. Pack and normal people alike filled his house, guests spilled out onto the porch, and into the yards. It was like his mother had invited everyone from the rez to come over. Every part of the house was teeming with people. No peace could be found. He couldn't even lock himself in his room because his room had no lock and people kept on wandering through and barging in. After the seventh time, Seth pretty much threw his hands up in the air and made a break.

Through his window. Up the side. And onto the roof.

The cold didn't bother him as much as the scum he was sitting on. It was his own fault. His mom had told him months ago to clean it up and fix the roof. Given, he'd had a lot going on at the time.

The change.

His dad dying.

And now the imprint.

Cleaning and re-shingling the roof had easily lost any importance on his priority list.

He sat there for what seemed like hours, watching his breath come out in smoky puffs and listening to the banal conversation going on inside. Seth bit back a laugh. God. Banal? That was proof he was reading too much, paying too much attention in English. He was actually using advanced vocabulary in his own thoughts. Tapping his fingers restlessly against his knees, he regretted not grabbing food and maybe some eggnog before he bailed. He was starting to get hungry as hell and the wolf's high metabolism wasn't helping him out. Just making him jones even worse for everything off of the snack table. If the pack hadn't already beaten him to it. The sound of his stomach roaring was starting to get so loud, he could hear it over the party goers. Standing, he was about to go back inside to see if anything was left when he heard a funny sound go off behind him and a strange smell waft over to him. Turning to see where it was coming from, he froze in shock.

It was Harry.

"Hey," Harry said giving a small wave.

"Harry!' Seth exclaimed, scrambling over to the man's side.

Throwing one arm around Seth's neck and shoulders, Harry tugged the boy forward and pressed his lips firmly to his forehead.

"Happy Christmas. Ish."

He pulled a wide thin box out with a bow on it and handed it to Seth. The shifter took it and began to chuckle as he opened it and got an even stronger whiff of the aroma coming from within.

"Pizza? Really Harry?"

"You're always hungry. I figured food was the safest way to go."

"Well, considering I'm starving, I think your gift is in great taste." He pulled a piece out and practically shoved the whole thing into his mouth. Unlike most people who were disgusted by his utter lack of table manners, Harry just watched him eat,.devour, the pizza with the most tender expression. "You're a life saver Harry."

Harry chuckled.

"Nice to know." Harry stepped into his personal space, so close, their chests were touching. It was awkward, trying to hold the pizza box away from their bodies so the contact wasn't interrupted. "Gotcha something else too."

The wizard reached into his coat. Leather cord. But at the end of the cord was the bronze figure of a wolf. There were strage marking etched into it, and there was some kind of stone he couldn't recognize set into the eyes. They gleamed when he turned the wolf over in his hand. The wolf wasn't the only thing on the cord either. There was a silver ring. Plain, not much to it. Squinting, Seth could just make out an engraving on the inside.

"_Vous et nul autre_?" he whispered to himself. He looked up at Harry, "What language is that? The only other languages I speak are some of my tribe's dialect and very bad Spanish."

"I'll tell you next time I see you," Harry promised.

"Are you leaving again?" Seth asked, disappointment lacing his words.

"Yeah. I can't stay long. But I wanted to at least see you for Christmas."

"Thanks for that at least..." Seth muttered bitterly.

"I'm, sorry," the wizard apologized.

They stood there in heavy silence for a while before Harry took the necklace back from Seth. He looked at it for a moment before lifting it and lowering it around Seth's neck. The boy stiffly inclined his neck so it went down easier. Harry took hold of the wolf and fiddled with it.

"The marks are for good luck and protection." He sighed. "And the ring. The ring is a promise. I'm coming back Seth. No matter what I'm coming back. And next time I do, I'm not leaving ever again. Not without you."

"You mean it?"

"I swear."

The moment was broken when Seth dropped the long forgotten pizza box. It his the roof and slid almost all the way down until it got caught on a shingle. He and Harry shared an amused smile. Feeling bold, Seth stepped up to the man and stole a quick kiss from him before he could refuse. Harry gave him a look somewhere in between chastising and ridiculously pleased.

"You know, we've got this thing all backwards."

"How so?"

"Well," Seth remarked, "Usually a wolf gives its imprint a hand carved wolf pendant meant for protection."

"Is backwards bad?"

"No, not really." He touched the wolf again. "It's kind of nice."

"That's good." Harry sighed. "I should be going."

"But next time..."

"Here to stay."

"That's good."

"Yeah," Harry said, holding him now, "Yeah."

* * *

AN: It's the time and the season. Wanted to do something Christmas based. And Sethy. With a dash of Harry. Sorry if it was a bit of a downer, but I don't think Seth can be very happy without Harry around. Favorite part of this chapter? Probably the Leah part. Two things: the poll for the Jacob pairing has been decided. It was already winning in votes, but a reader sent in a very convincing PM that tipped the scale over from where it had originally been leaning (coughGabriellecough). My Gabrielle is a ridiculously fun, if snooty to a fault, girl. Unfortunately, not compatible for Mr. WolfyWolf. She'd probably have Jake whipped then kicked to the curb within the first week. His poor Bella abused heart wouldn't hold up. The other thing, be on the look out for a surprise within the next twenty hours of this chapter's posting. (Eyebrow waggle)


	21. You

You (_And No Other_)

* * *

"Hey Harry?"

"What Bella?"

"Isn't this a little, I don't know, creepy?"

Harry shot a glare at her.

"Like you can talk Bella. You're the one always saying Edward coming in through your window at night and watching you sleep was all _romantic_."

"Well, that's different."

"Yeah, how?"

"Do you know how boring it gets not being able to sleep at night? That's a whole six to eight hours more I have to keep myself occupied for. I mean, yeah, you can read, jump across roof tops, smash things, but that gets boring too. I totally get why Edward was into it now. Watching humans sleep is kind of entertaining. They always roll around, and make funny noises. Heck, I watched you sleep a lot. You are one fussy sleeper."

Freezing, Harry gave her a very disturbed look.

"I feel really violated right now."

The vampire patted Harry on the back patronizingly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I watched Gabrielle sleep too."

"Don't tell Gabrielle that. She may just hurl a fireball at you."

"Noted. Now Harry, I'd say now is as good as any time for you to go. I can only hear Seth and his mom's heartbeats in there. You're lucky Leah's not in there, considering how much you complain about her hating you."

"But she does!"

"Oh whatever Harry. All of us have in-laws, or at least in your case, future in-laws, who hate our guts."

"Yeah, why don't you try having said future in-law try to kill you the first time you meet? And that's after attempting to seduce you during a yoga session."

"Okay, so you have issues of the dysfunctional sort. But that's normal for you Harry."

He glared at her.

"Hey Bella?"

"Yes Harry?"

"Can you just go? Like, get out of here, I don't want to see your face again for a whole year at least, please?"

Bella giggled.

"Love you too Harry! I'll try to convince Edward not to kill you! Ooh, and say hi to Seth for me as well!"

With that she departed faster than Harry's eyes could track. He heaved a sigh and looked back up at the house in front of him. Seth's house. Last time he was here, it had been Christmas time. Given, it had already been Christmas in Europe (whichever country he and Bella had been in at the time) but it had been Christmas Eve here on the reservation. He'd given Seth that ring. Not for the first time since that night, Harry was nervous. That ring, well, it was a lot. Seth didn't even know what it meant. The day he'd gone to make the purchase on _le vingt-et-unieme arrondissement_ (1) with Gabrielle, she'd freaked when she saw what he was getting. After getting past the, "no, it's not for you," part of the conversation, she'd launched into an interrogation of who the girl was that her Harry was getting the ring for. It was almost fun watching her try to figure out what kind of girl's name Seth was.

And then figure out that Seth, was in fact, not a girl's name.

In that moment, Gabrielle had come to the conclusion that everything finally made sense. Why Harry had never had relationships that lasted very long and how he could possibly ever resist her dazzling good looks and charms. Bella and Sanguini had had a field day watching Gabrielle checking just how gay he was. Did he dress fashion forward? Was he a vegetarian? Did he pass or fail the fingernail test? The worst of it was when half Veela started chasing him about Sanguini's mansion with fold outs of wizards in thongs asking him to tell her which was more his type. Harry had gone out of his way to burn every copy of Witch Weekly he ever saw ever again after that day. And invest heavily in the shares. Maybe one day he'd own enough that he could shut them down for good. He also made Gabrielle sign a binding contract that she'd never tell anyone or give anyone (Witch Weekly) any information. She did it willingly because she understood he didn't want to have details about his "_epeec gay rooooomance_" publicized.

Sighing, he smacked his cheek once or twice to snap himself out of his thoughts. Taking a step, he turned on it, and apparated. The next second he was in a room, door thankfully closed. It was dark in Seth's room, nothing he wasn't expecting. Seth had been comfortably tucked into bed, Harry knew from when he'd talked to Seth earlier before arriving in Washington. He hadn't even told Seth he was coming. He'd wanted to surprise him. Bella was right. This was really weird, dropping in late and uninvited while the kid was asleep. It was too late to try and take it back and not apparate into the room because the minute after he materialized and steady on his feet, Seth was up and out of his bed like a shot. They had a stare off for all of five seconds before Harry was being held tightly.

"Not a dream right?"

"No," Harry answered, his arms coming up, one hand on the back of Seth's neck, the other in his hair.

"You're not going to disapparate on me this time either, right?"

"Told you last time," Harry said with a breathless laugh, "I'm not going anywhere anymore."

Seth's head slid down till his forehead met with Harry's shoulder. For a while, there was no sound or movement. And then Seth started to shake and Harry felt wetness beginning to soak through his hoodies and shirt.

"I missed you Harry, every single day I missed you. I wanted to never let you go the last time you were here. Bella could do whatever the hell she liked for all I cared. I can go on for days about how much I hated your plan and how much it sucked knowing you were on whole other continent away and only having some stupid mirror to talk to you, but I know that will just make you feel terrible and I don't want you to feel terrible. At least not that terrible." He paused, taking a shuddering breath. "If you ever leave again, I'm calling Hermione and Ron so that they can help me hunt you down so I can chain your ankle to mine."

With all of that said, Harry feeling appropriately threatened, guilty, and warmed by the words. All of the pent up anger left the boy. In all honesty, Harry expected, deserved, a lot more. Harry was no stranger to pissing off people he was close too. Sometimes it seemed like the more they mattered to him and vice-versa, the more violently angry they got with him when he did something wrong. Merlin, Ron and Hermione got vindictive as hell with him when he stepped out of line. He knew leaving would hurt Seth extraordinarily. Being away had affected him too. The way it must have been on Seth was probably a hundred times worse. Standing here, Seth crying on his shoulder, and knowing it was entirely his fault, Harry would be spending forever and on trying to actually earn the easy acceptance and forgiveness he was being given.

Silently, he guided Seth back to his bed and helped him lie back down, grabbing the blankets and covering him up. He levered himself up onto the bed as well, sitting with his back at the wall the bed was pressed against. Seth rested on his side facing away from Harry with his head on the man's lap, and Harry's fingers found themselves tangled in his dark locks again, tracing patterns in his scalp. A peaceful sigh slipped through his lips once he was settled.

"Hey."

"Hmm."

"You need to tell me about the ring."

"Ah."

Harry dragged his right hand down his neck nervously.

"Thought I forgot huh? Seriously Harry, I've been thinking of it constantly since last Christmas. I didn't even try to look it up because I wanted you to be the one to tell me."

"It's, well, I don't even really know where to start explaining."

"How about just telling me about what _vous et nul autre_ means?" (2)

After a couple of seconds of silence, Harry took a deep breath and spoke.

"_Vous et nul autre_ means you and no other."

Seth rolled onto his back and stared up at Harry, his dark eyes wide. Harry's hand fell and whispered across Seth's chest until it stopped on the necklace that was wearing. He looked down at it, avoiding Seth's gaze.

"In western cultures, a ring like the one I gave you is considered a promise ring. It's a terribly cheesy and old fashioned tradition, kind of like the engagement that comes before the engagement." He pulled on something around his neck. Another ring became visible, tumbling out from the neckline of his shirt and dangled right in front of Seth's face from where it hung on the string. It glinted in the low light, and if looked at hard enough, it shared the same inner inscription. "Here's its match."

Taking hold of the ring on own his necklace, Seth ran the tips of his finger over the smooth shiny surface, not saying anything. Harry pressed on.

"In the wizarding world, these rings are a lot more than just promise rings. The exchange and wearing of them is a ritual meant to fully recognize two people as intended. The magic imbued in them tethers itself to pre-existing feelings and bonds and strengthens their connection. By the time of marriage, the ceremony is just a formality because the two people by all rights, they already are joined by soul and magic."

"Does that mean-?" Seth started, peering up at Harry.

"Not yet," Harry said, "Like I said, they need to be exchanged." Grasping the string around his own neck, the man gave it a yank and it came away. Throwing the string away, he held the ring out to Seth between his thumb and forefinger. "Up until now, all I've been giving you is promise after promise, that I want to be with you. But the way I've lived my life, words, promises, they're nothing compared to actions. You may have imprinted on me, but I'm showing you right now that I'm choosing you. I'm giving you my ring with hope that you'll give me yours in return and with the intention of being with you until you tell me to go away." He paused before smirking. "Or when your sister finally kills me."

"Be serious for a second Harry," Seth said, pushing himself back up into a sitting position, "Did you really mean it?"

"Abso-bloody-lutely." The grin on Harry's face faltered fractionally for a second. "If this isn't what you want though, if it's too much, or too strange right now and you want some time to think about it, just say so and-"

With a big smile, Seth snatched the ring away and put it on his ring own finger. With fumbling, overeager hands, he took off his own necklace and removed the ring from it. Shyly, he handed it to Harry. Without any hesitation, Harry took it and slipped it on his own finger. The ring was warm, and he could feel its magic thrumming through him. It felt pleasant, happy. He looked over at Seth, who was staring at his own ring with wonder.

"Do you feel it?" he asked Harry, awe in his voice.

"Yeah."

And then Harry leaned forward, tipping Seth's head just so, and captured his lips. The corners of his lips lifted when Seth practically fell back into him like a boneless fish. Harry trying his luck just a little more and deepened the kiss. His tongue moved tentatively into Seth's mouth, exploring, gently gliding over Seth's parted lips and his teeth.

"Mm-ack!"

"Jesus Christ! Harry, shit, are you alright? I'm sorry," Seth exclaimed.

Harry had his eyes shut tight, hands clamped over his mouth. He opened his now watery eyes, and took in Seth's panic.

"It's okay Seth," Harry assured with a humorous grimace, reaching over running his palm down Seth's cheek, "Too much?"

"Okay?" Seth whispered hysterically, "I bit you!"

"Yeah too much. I think from now on, no spontaneous make-outs with tongue. I'll warn you before I ravish you next time," the wizard said before bursting into giggles that he had to muffle.

"Harry..." Seth whined, dragging his covers up to hide up his humiliation.

"We'll just have to practice from now on so you don't get too excited and bite me again," Harry said teasingly poking at the face hidden under blankets and sheets.

Grabbing his neglected pillow, Seth shoved it into Harry's face.

"Hey, no violence." Harry relinquished the pillow from the boy. "So... Exciting night. Coming back from England, sneaking into your room, trading promise rings. I think we've fulfilled our quota of teenage romance novel for the night. It's about time for you to go to sleep."

"Do you have to go Harry?"

"Not really. Want me to stay the night?"

"Would you make fun of me if I said I really really do?"

"Maybe tomorrow morning." He resettled Seth so the boy was laying the way he was earlier, head nestled on his lap, blankets and sheets tucked under his arms. He took the pillow he'd wrested from Seth and used it to rest against the wall more comfortably. "There. Just sleep now. I'll be here when you wake up. I might sleep through the morning because I'm actually exhausted from the cross-country broom ride. And jet lag."

"You know, I remember days where hearing the words "cross-country" and "broom ride" in the same sentence were weird. It's still weird, but not so much anymore." The shifter kicked around a bit, yawned and then calmed once more. "Night Harry."

"Good night Seth."

Despite how tired he'd said he was, Harry remained wide-awake for another hour lost in thought. For the first time in a very long time, he didn't feel any worry or responsibility. No deatheater hunts. No Bella. No past. Just plenty of future and more than he could have expected or asked for fast asleep beside him. Smiling when he heard fairly audible snores drift through the room, he finally closed his eyes, slowed his breathing and let himself sink into untroubled sleep as well.

* * *

AN: Lots of things sort of. Just to assuage any fears of you guys that the HPSC reunion is the end, no it isn't. I've got _at least one_ more arc of events I could cover before I call quitsies on this fic. Also, for those of you who were anxiously clamoring for Seth and Harry time, here it is. Things for the most part are good in Seth and Harry land now. But of course, on the outside, it'll still be chaotic. We've got _Jacob_ MIA, Edward lurking somewhere nearby in a closet, and Leah is probably plotting one of her delicious evil schemes. What will you do to fix this one Harry?

1. What else? Explanation on le vingt-et-uniem arrondissement. My French history/geography is super sketch, but there are only twenty arrondissements, or neighborhoods. Vingt-et-unieme, twenty-one, is just a play on the number and the idea that in France, they have their own hidden extra neighborhood for wizard shopping. In real life, vingt-et-unieme arrondissement doesn't exist.  
2. On promise rings, the gist I got from random sites and wikipedia (God bless your cybernetic soul), is that they are symbolic of a promise or commitment a person makes to another or to people. They were officially used in the 1600-1700s commonly by lovers before engagement or between friends as a way for them to solidify their relationship. My use was parts real description, lots BS. The inscription is a real, popular, and very old French promise inscribed into rings. It could mean either "you and no other" or "yours and no others."

That might be it for now. I wish you all a merry Christmahannukwanzamas, and a happy special new chapter update.


	22. Engaged

Engaged (In Very Messy Affairs)

* * *

Waking up in the morning was surprisingly without stress or excitement. Seth had been expecting Leah, or God forbid, Leah, to come barging in to ruin the perfection of Harry's return. He really wanted Harry's return to La Push to be great. Past experience had proven that whenever his mother or sister were involved, expecting uninterrupted quality Harry time was an unrealistic hope. Somehow, it seemed like luck was on Seth's side. Sun light filtered in through his open window, becoming enough of a nuisance to make him open his eyes. He blinked once, twice, and then sat up and began to rub at his face. Slowly, he turned his head and a pleased smile touched his lips as he saw Harry right where he left him last night. Propped against the wall, his glasses askew and just barely holding onto his face by the skin of his nose. As carefully as possible, Seth pushed the glasses into their correct position, making sure not to wake Harry while doing it. He laughed when the glasses, as if to rebel against him, just slid down again.

For however long it was, he sat, legs crossed, watching Harry. He could've sat there all day long, for as long as Harry stayed asleep watching him. Last night had seemed very, well, unreal. Harry had come in the dead of the night, unexpected. Things had happened as if it were all some elaborately perfect dream. Too awesome to possibly be real. Everything about Harry, everything Harry did, in general, seemed too awesome to be real. But it seemed like every time, Seth would wake up the next morning and find that it really was real. He wasn't dreaming, and his fears and doubts were chased away like night by day. Some times it was amazing how easy Harry made it all feel.

When his stomach started to rumble, Seth knew it was time to get up. There was a second where he thought, if I take my eyes off him, he might disappear, but the worry was put to rest as soon as it came. It might have been ridiculous of him to put so much blind faith in a promise and a silly ring around his finger, but he trusted implicitly that Harry was there to stay. Harry was wrong when he said that promises weren't enough. From the day they'd first met, Harry hadn't once made a promise he couldn't or wouldn't keep. The man seemed to pass every day flighty and strange as ever, but with Seth, he'd been reliable. And he tried so hard to take care of Seth whichever way, however misguided. Promises from Harry were worth more than gold. Promises and that silly ring on his finger were all he needed.

Pushing off the bed was interesting. His legs had fallen asleep, causing him to stumble in the slightest one they were on the ground. His knees hit the side of the bed, and he had to brace himself against the mattress with his arm, only just managing to catch himself before falling on Harry. It almost made him laugh, but he chose instead to lean in just so and steal a quick kiss from Harry's lips. It was spontaneous and he liked the idea of getting away with it. And he did, Harry didn't even stir, he was so out of it. Once again, his stomach chimed in to remind him to get on with feeding it. Seth stepped away for good this time and went downstairs.

The house was blessedly without any other conscious or unconscious occupants in the house. Just him and the sleeping one upstairs. There was a note written on the whiteboard on the fridge. It was the same note as usual, his mother recycled it every morning to let him and Leah know where the food was, that she was at work, and to have a great day. The only thing that ever changed about the whiteboard was the date at the top right corner. Sometimes, she didn't even change that. Opening the door, there were several already made breakfast burritos pre-made and waiting to be heated up. The plastic wrap was off and the burritos were in the microwave in a second. After a minute's worth of mental debate, he pulled out a teapot, filled it with water and got it started on the oven. It felt like a tea morning. Harry would probably enjoy having it.

Sitting down at the table in the middle of the kitchen he waited for the food and water to finish. The microwave just started going off when he heard something sounding out of the ordinary somewhere just outside the house. A quiet tapping on glass that didn't sound anything like the usual noises the wind or the animals made Taking the burritos out and placing them on the counter nearby, he went to investigate. The source of the sound was in the adjacent hall from the kitchen that led to the door. With some trepidation, he went down the hall. The culprit behind the tapping wasn't exactly what he expected. Getting down on his knees, he stared at what sat in the bottom left corner of the window frame next to the door.

The owl looked up at him, frazzled and half-dead, from on its back. Its little clawed foot tapped against the window, just deliberately enough that Seth knew it was asking for entrance as opposed to having a pre-death seizure. There was something tied around its leg. Suddenly, Seth remembered that Harry's community used owls- owls of all things- to deliver missives. Curious, he opened the window and the owl gave wheeze, and kind of rolled itself inside. Seth had to lunge forward to catch the thing before it hit the floor. It gave a soft hoot and passed out, leaving Seth with an arm full of wet, exhausted bird, not sure what to do with it.

"Harry!" he hissed, using one arm to shake his imprint. The other arm was still busy cradling the owl.

"Huh?"

Harry's eyes fluttered open. He had to bite the inner part of his lip to keep from giggling like a fool at the sight of them. Green as ever. Remembering he was here for the owl, he shoved his mental swooning to the side.

"Harry, you need to wake up. I think something's come for you."

He got a bleary, clueless look of the still not completely awake wizard. As Harry started to wake up more, bit by bit, he became aware of Seth in front of him, and then of the owl.

"What the- Here, Seth, hand me the owl."

Gingerly, he passed the bird over. Harry had pulled out his pillow and lay the poor thing down on it. The sight was equal parts adorable, pathetic and fascinating. For Seth, this was the first time he'd ever seen an owl up close, let alone a very sick looking owl that was being tended to by his...

He wondered for a second if he could consider Harry his boyfriend. Technically, being imprint and imprinter, or in Harry's words, soul bonded soul mates, they were more than just boyfriend and... boyfriend. The labels and whatnot were still kind of strange and hard to wrap his head around.

Once Harry had the owl settled as comfortably as a person could conceivably arrange an owl, he lifted its leg and started untying the paper around on it and unfurling it to be read. He pushed his glasses up to their proper position and Seth watched as Harry's eyes flew across the paper, line by line. Every second, they moved faster and grew wider as he went. By the look on Harry's face, it had to be something pretty serious.

"Well, shit."

"What? What is it?" he asked, poking the other male in the side.

"Here. See for yourself."

The letter was pushed into his hands. Smoothing it out, he started reading.

_My Dearest Harry,_

_Hope America has been treating you well. I've heard there are exciting creatures on that side of the Atlantic. None quite as spectacular as the crumple-horned snorkack, but unique nonetheless. I've told you before how much I would love to visit and have a look around and see the sights and wildlife. You must tell me about what you've seen so far._

_Things here have been the usual, with some variances. The Quibbler keeps me busy most days. Daddy is planning on stepping down and giving me his job as editor soon. I'm truly excited. I have several ideas to introduce to it. Outside the Quibbler, I've recently met someone. He's a wonderful man and a wonderful friend. And he's American as well. You'd like him._

_Earlier this week he proposed and after some deliberation, and maybe one or two galleon tosses, I decided to say yes. Even considering your track record at weddings, I'd like for you to come and be my maid of honor. The wedding will be in a month. Send me your response within in the next week. I really hope you can do it. There is no one else I'd rather have stand with me at my wedding._

_Your Friend,_  
_Luna Lovegood_

_P.S. Please take good care of Drusilla until she comes back. I was concerned the transatlantic trip would not be easy on her. Nor the Washington weather. _

_P.S.S. By the way, my fiancé's name is Jacob Black. Do you suppose he might be in any way related to your godfather?_

Seth finished reading the letter and felt like he needed to read it again to make sure he was reading it right. So he did. The words didn't magically change and the implications were still there, as glaring as ever.

"Is this- is this what I think it is?"

"Yeah, probably."

"So..."

"My friend Luna is somehow engaged to your friend Jacob Black." Harry yawned, sitting back against the wall. "I guess he really did manage to get to England. I have to say, his determination to track me down is amazing."

"Amazing? Harry, you're talking about his determination to kill you. How is that ever amazing?"

"Well, while Voldemort was an obsessed, murderous bastard, he certainly never invested that much effort into ending my life. Not to the extent of crossing countries on foot. I'm sort of flattered."

This earned him an exasperated look.

"You're sort of insane Harry."

"You know you like that about me," Harry quipped with confident smile.

"Nah," Seth said, "I like you in spite of you being, what was it Hermione called you? 'Bleeding off your rocker.'"

"I need to make sure you stop talking to my friends," Harry groused.

"But I like your friends Harry. They have all of this dirt on you. Where else am I supposed to get it from?"

Seth gave him a shit-eating grin.

"I really need to make sure you don't hang out with my friends."

"So what are you planning to do about this?" Seth asked, waving the letter around.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I'm glad Luna's found someone. I always thought she and Neville had a thing back in school but then it went nowhere and Neville went and married Hannah. And then she dated this one guy named Rolf who she thought was the one. But he ended up dumping her." A dark look crossed Harry's face. "I had a lot of fun making him pay for breaking her heart."

"You're worried about her."

"Yeah," Harry admitted, "Jacob seems like a nice guy, but last time I checked, he was still pining after Bella. I understand that it was hard for him, but if he's just using Luna, if he's not absolutely serious about her..." he sighed. "Whenever I'm having a hard time, when I can't bring myself to go to Hermione or Ron, Luna's the person I go to. She just has this way of understanding me, no matter how alone or confused I feel. And she listens and helps me through my problems unselfishly, without pressure or pity."

"She sounds nice."

"I don't want her hurt. And I'll be damned if he hurts her."

"And I don't think Jake would hurt her," Seth said, laying one hand on Harry's, "Jake's impulsive and temperamental, more than you and that's saying a lot, but I think after Bella, he'd know better than to put someone else through that kind pain."

"I wish I could say that I felt the same way about him," Harry sighed.

"Why don't you give him a chance to prove it to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I think you should go see for yourself. Tell Luna that you're going to be at her wedding. If you feel even the slightest bit like Jake isn't right one for her, well, all you've got to do is object."

"But Seth, I can't go," Harry tried to protest.

"Why? What's stopping you?"

"I promised you Seth. No more leaving you," he answered, "The wedding's going to be in England. And I don't know if he still wants to kill me, but I don't think you'd appreciate me putting myself at risk by being around Jacob."

"That's why I'm going to go with you."

"What?" Harry exclaimed.

"Harry," Seth said, squeezing his hand, "Luna is obviously really important to you. Just as much as Ron, or Hermione, or your godson. I'm not going to hold you back from going to help her when she needs you. But so you don't break your promise, I'm coming with. That way, you can be there for her and I can hold Jake at bay."

"That's not going to go over to well with your family," Harry warned.

"I don't care. It's summer vacation, and I can take a break from my job at the bookstore. It's not like they can afford to fire me with the all of the business I've been bringing in lately."

"That's not why they're going to be upset and you know that Seth."

"And I think it's about time for them to get over their issues with you Harry. It's my life, you're my imprint and I'm getting tired of them standing in the way."

"And I'd like for them to not hate me even more than they already do till the end of time because they believe I kidnapped you and brought you to another country to do all sorts of wicked things to you. God, your mother might actually call the cops on me if I do take you," Harry said, a little panicked, his arms wildly gesticulating.

It was all so comical to watch, Seth just laughed at him.

"It's funny that you're so concerned with what they think."

"If I'm going to be with you, than I should at least try to be on good terms with your mother and sister."

"Well, I think I've got an idea about how we can make this work without it looking like you've kidnapped me."

"Really?"

"It's got nothing on any of your crazy ideas, but I have a good feeling it'll work."

"Hmm. So tell me, just what do you have planned?"

The smile Seth gave him was wide and devious.

"Billy."

"Billy? You mean Billy Black?"

"Yup."

The other male's face grew thoughtful. Seth waited for him to either approve or condemn his idea. All he knew was that he had to get Harry and himself to this wedding if it was the last thing he did. It wasn't just about making sure Harry was there for his friend. It was also because he wanted to be there for Jake. The last time he'd seen his own friend, they hadn't been on speaking terms. For the last eight months, he'd been carrying all of that Jake induced guilt around, with no way to do anything about it. He wanted a chance to convince Jake to forgive him, and Harry.

"I guess it could work," Harry finally said, "I-"

"Wait," Seth interrupted him, inclincing his head a bit, hearing something else.

"What is it?"

Hopping off the bed, the boy went to the door.

"I forgot about the tea!"

* * *

AN: Sorry for the lateness. Holidays had me busy. Happy new year everyone. And yes, Jake is to be paired with Luna. Hope you guys like it and that you enjoyed this chapter!


	23. Queen

Queen (_Gets Taken to Court_)

* * *

Harry had his hands on the tabletop, fingers meshed together. His face was full of awkwardness and uncertainty.

Billy sat opposite, hands flat against the table. No expression to be found. It bode ill. No apparent anger was worse than turning the table on its side in a tantrum.

Finally there was Seth, the only unseated one leaning against the side of Harry's chair. Nervous was a good way to put how he felt right now.

Lying on the table in front of them was a piece of paper. A letter. Luna's letter to Harry to be exact. That had been Seth's plan after all. Go to Billy and convince him to come with them to Jake and Luna's wedding. His mother would never let them go if it was just them. But if they had Billy there to play the responsible adult companion for Seth, it would put her mind at ease. Her at least. Both he and Harry had little hope that it would do anything for Leah, who was naturally suspicious of all things Harry related. They'd been hinging on the fact that Billy would probably be invited to his own son's wedding as well. Seth had figured Jake wouldn't have been so thoughtless or caught up wherever he was to neglect his father the news of his upcoming marriage.

Of course, he'd been dead wrong.

After saving the tea and feeding themselves, they went and paid Billy a visit. Billy had been pleasantly surprised to see Harry. All things considered, Harry thought the man would've been out to get him just like the rest of the pack. Several minutes of Harry acting overly skittish around the man in the wheel chair, he'd had his fears put to rest. Billy didn't blame Harry for his son's own stupid impulses taking him to God knew where. And while he certainly wasn't happy to find all of the effort he'd expended in trying to keep Bella Swan human had gone to waste thanks to him, he realized it would've happened whether he wanted it to or not. Bella had been a lost case to begin with. Although Harry had made the change happen much sooner rather than later.

Harry had also taken the time to explain the new agreement he'd entered into with the Cullens. Billy, as head of the Elder Council, needed to know about it. It was with more surprise that Billy received this information with such grace and acceptance. Puzzling was more like it. Seth had been confused as to why Harry would enter into the role of guardianship over the Cullens. Though he considered the Cullens his friends, Seth was not completely blind to the danger they as vampires posed if ever they did decide to become a threat. The idea of someone needing to protect the vampires seemed so strange. But then remembered that the threat posed to the Cullens was from their own kind as well as the pack. The pack couldn't touch the vampires without Harry being obligated to stand in their way. As an imprint, no law abiding pack member could attack him. Harry had used their own law against them. This had been what he'd been driving at the entire time.

Peace.

Not for the first time, Seth was in awe of Harry, who never seemed incapable of the most impossible feats.

Billy was forced to see how airtight and incredibly well thought out Harry's set up was. He promised to as soon as possible call a pack meeting to present this new information to the pack. And to even set up a meeting between himself and Carlisle to rework the treaty in the face of the new development. The pack wouldn't be happy with it, but they'd have to accept it. Harry promised that most of the previous conditions set for the Cullens would be honored. His primary goal had been to shield the Cullens from the threat of the Volturi, and that keeping the wolves from killing them was just a bonus. He promised he'd take full responsibility for any future slip-ups, though he had faith there wouldn't be any. Seeing as how the most of the hard topics of conversation had been covered. Both Harry and Seth had thought that trying to talk to Billy about coming to Jake's wedding was a safe change of pace.

The more they said about it, the grimmer Billy seemed to get. He eventually had to stop them and demand an explanation.

When both the wizard and the wolf didn't know how to explain, Harry had pulled out Luna's letter and pushed it across the table to Billy for the man to read.

And now, here they sat, Billy having finished the letter, no one saying anything.

"So..."

Seth shrunk back a little when he immediately had both Harry's and Billy's attention on him. Thankfully, Harry took over.

"I'm sorry we pretty much took you by surprise with all of this Billy," Harry apologized, "We just figured you'd have been invited and you could attend the wedding along with us."

Snorting, Billy pushed away from the table and wheeled over to one of his cabinets.

"Don't try and pull any bullshit me kid," the man said, opening the cabinet door and riffling through it, "I raised a set of twin daughters and a trouble making son. I know a con when I hear one. You wouldn't bring me with you unless you had to. Did Sue put you up to this or something?"

"N-No," Seth denied, letting his nervousness at having their plan called out so early take the wheel, "My mom didn't put us up to this. We haven't told her yet. She, um, doesn't know Harry's back yet. We just got the letter, and well, we figured she probably wouldn't like the idea of me being alone with Harry again unless-"

"Unless," Billy interrupted, "You have a chaperon."

He threw and incredibly unimpressed look over his shoulder at the two, who had the decency to at least look somewhat ashamed. The man resumed searching his cabinet until he finally found what he was looking for. Held in one hand was a bottle with dark amber liquid in it. In the other was a glass.

"You want any?" he asked Harry shaking the bottle in his direction.

"Nope," the green eyed man was quick to refuse, "If I'm planning to see Sue later today, I'd rather not have her able to smell a legitimate reason to kick me out her house on my breath."

"Great, more for me," Billy said to himself. He rolled himself back over to the table and poured himself a drink, leaving the bottle open an arm's distance length away. "So you two need me to go with you."

"Either that or we don't go at all," Harry said, "I promised Seth I wouldn't go anywhere without him anymore. If Seth can't go, I won't go. I really care about Luna, and I would love to go to her wedding, but if it means I have to break my promise to Seth, I can't do it."

"Please say yes Billy?" Seth pleaded, "I want Harry to go. And I really want to see Jake too."

"While I'm positive Sue'll be none too pleased at the idea, and she'll chew me out for saying yes, I want to go with you." The man finished his glass and poured another, his expression hardening. "In fact, I'm going with you even if I have to hold onto your legs while you drag me there. I know my son took Bella choosing to become a vampire hard, but his behavior has been unacceptable. I let him running away from home go the first time, even if Charlie gave me a hard time about being negligent, because at least I knew where he was and what he was doing from the updates Sam and the pack gave me. This time, he just took off, went halfway across the world, and now he's getting married. Without even the decency of letting his family know. How am I supposed to figure out if his wife-to-be is the right one for him? His mother must be rolling in her grave at how disrespectful her son's grown up to become..."

For the next few minutes, Billy continued to rant and grumble to himself about how angry he was with his son, and what he was planning to say to him once he saw him. After refilling and downing his glass two more times, he finally settled down to a point where Seth was sure he wouldn't snap at them if they interrupted him.

"So that's a yes?"

"Damn straight." He looked thoughtful as he gave a little burp. "It'll be nice to see England. I've never gone anywhere outside of Washington my entire life."

"Me neither," Seth said.

"How much will the flight there cost?" Billy asked, his eyebrows drawing together as he strained to figure out what it meant.

"Don't worry about it," Harry said, "The least I can do for you in exchange for getting Sue off of our backs is to take care of travel arrangements. I can arrange a portkey to take all three of us to St. Ottery Catchpole when it's time."

"Portkey?" The older Quileute was confused by the word, mouthing to himself.

"It's an item that can be enchanted to transport one or more people from one place to another when activated," Seth explained, remembering what Harry had told him about them.

"Oh. That's right, I forgot." He glanced at Harry. "You're some type of wizard thing."

"You know, usually most non-magical people I meet have a hard time getting over the fact magic exists," Harry said amused.

"Well, most normal people don't know about werewolves and vampires do they?" Billy stated, seeming almost proud of himself at his comeback.

"True," Harry replied, "Hard to get a good shocker these days." He stopped to think for a second. "I know I've been gone a long time, but is the room I used still available?"

"So will you be staying in LaPush again Harry?" Billy asked, getting a nod from the younger man, "Yeah, the room's still free. I wouldn't mind staying here at all." He trailed his fingers over the table before pulling the letter back over to himself so he could read it again. "My daughter Rachel and her boyfriend Paul were living here for a while after you left, but they moved out about a couple of weeks ago. House has been kind of quiet since then. Never thought I'd actually miss having Paul around."

Harry chuckled.

"Not a fan of your daughter's boyfriend?"

"Nope. But she's his imprint and both you and Seth know there's nothing I can do about that." There was a long length of silence between them before Billy spoke. "What's this girl like?"

"Who?"

"This girl," Billy said, handing the letter back to Harry, "This Luna." He eyed Harry. "Is she half as crazy as you are?"

"That's a matter of opinion. Luna's the sweetest person I know and I don't think your son could do better if he tried."

Billy's eyebrows rose.

"I get the feeling that that kind of compliment coming from you means a lot in this girl's favor."

"Yep."

"You have my permission to beat my son senseless if he hurts your friend then. Sometimes, I think he really needs it." Finishing off the rest of his last glass, he capped the bottle, put it away, and bussed his glass. "C'mon you two. Daylight's a wastin' and the sooner we go talk to Sue, the faster we get her to break down and say yes."

Harry and Seth shared a grin as they went to follow the man in the wheelchair out.

* * *

"Whatcha doing Harry?"

They were in Seth's room. Harry was at Seth's desk writing something while Seth lay sprawled out on his bed watching him. Earlier, they'd been downstairs with Billy and his mother talking about Jake's wedding. After Harry had worked through explaining to her where he'd been for all those months while under her death glare, he'd told her about the wedding invitation he'd received. Sue was initially resistant to Seth going with Harry when the idea was proposed, but Billy had stepped in and told her that he had offered to go with them to make sure they would get into any trouble. Both Harry and Seth had cringed at how wrong the implication sounded coming from Billy's mouth. They were soon excused so that the "adults" could discuss the details. Harry was indignant at the fact that they'd been relegated to the kid's corner, but soon got over it when Seth informed him that his mother was subtly giving them permission to spend some time alone together. He knew from when Leah used to bring Sam home and his mother would drag off his dad to give them some private time.

Seth blushed lightly remembering Harry had taken advantage of some of their alone time to themselves to "teach" Seth more about making out, or snogging, as Harry liked to call it. Whatever name they used, it didn't really matter. While the first time they'd tried last night had ended horribly and way too soon, this time was much better. Harry had gotten on his bed with him and pulled him down to join him. Seth's heart had been beating in over time being that close, touching that intimately. Relaxing, he lowered his head to meet Harry's lips halfway. This time he expected the tongue, and had thoroughly enjoyed Harry dragging it torturously slow through all parts of his mouth until Seth was sure he now knew every part of it better than he had his entire life. Glassy eyed and panting, Harry had ended their session after that, saying they'd continue later. In much the same state, or worse, Seth had just given him a blissfully dopey nod. For the last half hour, they'd just been lying there together, nearly dozing off until Harry had gotten up.

"I'm writing a response to Luna," Harry said, turning to face him, "I think your mum was okay with you coming even before Billy told her he was going with us. I'm thinking I should write Luna now to warn her I'll be bringing two guests."

"Are you going to tell her about Billy?" Seth inquired.

"Nah. I think it'll be a pleasant surprise for her to meet him. Maybe not so much for Jacob, but it's kind of what he deserves. You shouldn't leave family high and dry like that."

"What about me?"

He asked this quietly, his voice betraying how nervous he was to hear the answer.

"Nothing so far. Do you want me to tell her about you?"

Honestly, Seth didn't know. Hermione knew about him, she was there to help Harry when he was trying to figure out what was going on between them and she'd been kind to him. And while Harry had been gone, she and Ron, Harry's other best friend, had sent him letters through normal post, in an attempt to get to know him better. He'd been reassured by their easy acceptance of his place in Harry's life, and warmed by the friendship they extended to him through their letters. Luna was another important person to Harry. It was obvious with the way he'd spoken of her earlier this morning. Seth knew there had to be more to it than just what Harry was telling him too. Ron and Hermione had been the first hurdle. He just felt anxious about this second one.

"Do you think she'll like me?"

"Of course Seth. She'll love you the minute she meets you. Seriously, Hermione and Ron were the hard ones to win over and they're already almost as protective of you as your mum," Harry reassured him.

"Hey, are they going to be at the wedding too?" Seth wondered, feeling less worried.

"Probably," Harry answered, "Them and some other people I know." The wizard pursed his lips.

"What? What is it Harry?"

"There's a really good chance that there will be people at that wedding I'm not going to want to see. I... can't really talk about it right now. Some of it has to do with the war, but the rest..." he fought to continue, "There was a reason I needed to get away from all of that."

He stood and made his way over so he could sit next to Seth, leaning into the boy and slinging an arm around his waist. Seth recognized the move for what it was. Comfort. Harry was genuinely upset by whatever it was he was hinting at. And he wouldn't press him to further explain it. It was already amazing Harry told him so much about the war with Voldemort. If this was what he could to, comfort his imprint, then he'd do that. And when they saw those people Harry didn't want to see, he'd help Harry through that too.

* * *

AN: Been a long time again, and this was a bit of a slow chapter too. It's mostly due to me being in a bit of a writing slump. I made sure to give you some kissy-kissy fun time to try and make up for it. And a little bit of angsty fluff. Next chapter, we'll be going to the wedding. Special HP guest appearances galore. See y'all next time.


	24. Prodigal

Prodigal (_Run Away, Run Away_)

* * *

Over the next few days leading up to the wedding, Harry maintained constant correspondence with Luna. Apparently, though Luna was a very low maintenance bride-to-be who didn't demand much, Harry still had duties to fulfill as maid of honor. Things like coordinating the bridal shower and the bachelorette party primarily, and giving her his opinions on decorations, bridesmaid dresses, and cake flavors. While Harry had been to many weddings in his time - most of which he'd trashed and one such trashed wedding Seth had been witness to - this was the first time he'd been put in charge of actually putting it together. It was amazing to watch the usually laid-back and devious wizard stressed about the plans and lamenting the fact that he couldn't destroy his own painstakingly made wedding preparations. Seth wondered idly if this was Luna's way of insuring that Harry would be able to be at her wedding without ruining it in some odd fashion. So far, it seemed to be working, because the minute the green-eyed man even wondered aloud about maybe spiking the helping house elves' drinks with butterbeer, he'd cut himself off before he'd begun to flesh out the idea.

Or even explain to Seth what the hell house elves were.

They'd be arriving two days in advance. The first day would be to settle into the Lovegood home where special wedding guests would be staying, the rest being deferred to the Burrow just over the hill or to stay at the Leaky Cauldron and floo over when it was time. Harry had seemed to be extraordinarily relieved that he wouldn't have to be staying at the Burrow, which Seth knew to be where Ron's parents lived. With the way Harry always spoke of how Ron and his family had shown him so much kindness during his childhood, it was weird that Harry wouldn't want to stay with them. It was obvious he thought well of them.

He didn't give it any more thought than that.

On the second day, Seth wouldn't be seeing much of Harry. The bridal shower would be thrown during the first half and then they'd segue into the bachelor/bachelorette parties. Then the wedding itself would happen.

Somewhere amongst those days, Seth knew some hell would have to break loose. And he knew inherently that Harry would be at the center of it all. It wasn't like Harry would be looking for it to happen. No. This wedding had Harry terrified of a single napkin being put out of place. When Harry wasn't the driving force of chaos, Hermione had explained to him once when they were talking about the trio's Hogwarts days, he was a magnet for it instead.

Today was the day though.

Billy, Harry and Seth himself had gathered in Seth's livingroom. His mother and Leah were there to see them off, his mother being fussy about whether he was completely packed and Leah being her usual snotty self in present company. Once she'd been reassured that yes, his suit, his underwear and - to his, Harry's and Leah's utter mortification as she said it with a pointed stare at Harry -emergency supplies were all in his suitcase, she kissed him soundly on the cheek, gave Harry and Billy a nod. Though she pretended to be glad she'd get the house to herself, to him, she was transparent about how much she was going miss him over the next couple days. And the not so subtle threats towards Harry if he stepped out of line. Oh, if only she knew. Seth hadn't shifted in a while, partly because he was still on probation after all of this time and mostly because he didn't want to share his thoughts of Harry with any of the guys. It was already embarrassing enough that the other guys thought about their own imprints. He could only imagine how awkward, no matter how accepting they'd become of his situation, it would be to force them to see another guy that way.

And with the way things had been going with Harry since he'd come back, that kind of stuff was on his mind constantly.

"Alright guys," Harry said, snapping Seth out of his not so innocent thoughts, "Keep a tight hold of your luggage in one hand and use the other to hold onto this as well."

He held out a belt, gripping it at the buckle. Seth grasped the middle obediently, knowing exactly what Harry was saying. Billy seemed to be lost though, staring at the object at his eye level with a measure of distrust.

"Why?"

"This is the portkey," Harry explained patiently.

"Why is it a belt?"

"Because I wanted something all three of us would have an easy time holding onto. I've seen some really bad portkeys. Try ten people trying to hold a single boot at the same time. We actually fought over who got the shoelaces." He grimaced. "Trust me, the belt is a good portkey for you first time."

Billy seemed to finally take Harry's word for it and grabbed the available end with his hand firmly. The wizard waved a goodbye to the two women in the room, Seth doing the same, before activating the portkey.

Traveling by apparition had never been Seth's favorite method of travel. It was uncomfortable and always gave him a case of vertigo that had him searching for the closest place to hurl. Traveling by portkey had the same sort of sudden jerkiness, but less of the strange squeezing sensation. It honestly felt more like one of those amusement park rides he'd gone on in Port Angeles or the feeling he got when he went flying off the edge while cliff diving. The rush, the way the world melted away around you. It was kind of fun. He was actually kind of disappointed when it ended and he was setting his feet on solid ground once again. Glancing at either side of him, he bit down the urge to laugh. Harry was on the ground, rubbing at his backside. Then there was Billy who was little better off. His chair hand landed right side up without him in it. He was swearing up a storm.

"I don't understand," Harry complained, "How is it that on your first try you come out standing when I haven't managed it in the last decade?"

Seth shrugged with a mock casual sort of arrogance, holding out a hand for the green-eyed man to take. Once Harry was back on his feet, and giving him a flick on the nose for his attitude, they were helping a disgruntled Billy back into his chair. The man still had a death grip on the belt and was glaring holes into Harry as he was stabilized.

"If my damn legs worked, I'd be kicking your ass right now."

"You'd have to catch me first," Harry taunted.

"I was fast back in the day you punk..."

Tuning them out, Seth took in the lay of the land. As far as the eye could see there were rolling hills and patches of marshland in between. Up above, the sun shone mutely through the slight overcast and fog. They'd left at night in Washington a day early and now it looked like it was already early morning here in England. In the distance, he could make out the outlines of other buildings, strangely shaped houses. Some were harder to spot, trees getting in the way. Standing proudly, if a little off kilter in front of them, was a strange sort of tower like building with a large garden out front and a set of steps leading up to it. It managed to look gloomy and imposing and welcoming at the same time.

"Is that where we're supposed to be going Harry?" He pointed to the place ahead.

"Yeah," Harry replied, "This is Ottery St. Catchpole, England," he said, gesturing with a wide swing of his arm at the surrounding countryside, "and this," he indicated the house, "Is the home of Luna and Xenophilius Lovegood, where they print the Quibbler magazine."

"_Xenophilius?_" Billy gave him an incredulous look. "Really, _Xenophilius_?"

"This is only the beginning of the wizarding world Mr. Black." Harry patted the man on the back. "You'll be sure to come across names even more terrible than that."

With a disbelieving snort, Billy pushed himself forward till he stopped at the stairs, glaring at them. Seth was immediately stepping forward to take one side of the man's chair while Harry followed his lead and took the other. They lifted and started taking the steps slowly, one at a time. It wasn't any trouble for Seth because of his enhancements. And Harry was nothing to sneeze at either. No, not at all.

Billy seemed to be sulking and grumbling as they carried him.

"I could've levitated you up to save the trouble," the wizard commented backhandedly.

The two younger males watched as the oldest pale at what Harry was suggesting.

"No, no, not necessary at all," Billy said hurriedly, before quieting down and allowing them to carry him the rest of the way in peace.

Finally at the doorstep, Harry knocked on the door three times. There was a moment's worth of waiting and then the door flew open and a woman with incredibly long, dirty blonde hair engulfed Harry in an embrace. When they pulled away from each other both Harry and the woman were beaming. There was so much joy apparent in their faces, they were genuinely happy see each other. Seth felt almost as if he was an outsider intruding on something he shouldn't. Almost the same way he felt when he was with Harry and Hermione in a room and they were sharing some private joke. He felt left out, and only the fact that Billy, sitting there inbetween him and Harry and Luna, looking just as lost and out of place made him feel less miserable about it.

Suddenly, Luna was taking a couple of steps back, eyes looking into the space between him and Harry, though in no way focusing on Billy. Bewildered, he looked to Harry for explanation of the strange behavior but received none. They watched as Luna's expression went from intensely focused to in awe. Her hands flew to her face, covering her mouth and catching her gasp. Tears swam in her large, silvery eyes.

"Oh Harry," she finally said, thing first word the woman had spoken since she'd appeared.

"What is it Luna?" Harry asked concerned.

"It," she paused, finally looking at Seth then back at her friend, "It's so beautiful..."

"What?"

"Your colors," she said breathlessly, reaching out into the air above Billy's head, fingers moving through it as if running them through something, "You're finally complete."

Her eyes slid over to Seth, and she placed her hand on his cheek.

"He was lost before, but now he's finally as he should be," she told him, "Where he should be."

Even though everything she was saying came out crazy cryptic, Seth couldn't help but feel like she made the most sense in the world.

As if nothing strange had just occurred, Luna withdrew her hands from his face and chose to then take his hand as well as Harry's and usher them in for honey tea and biscuits. They followed her without question, not knowing how to react in any other way. Harry was shooting him looks, and he was shooting Harry some of his own. Billy just wheeled forward, exasperated with the both of them. He didn't have time for his charge and his housemate's strange relationship dynamics. He was intent on getting to his son. That was the main reason he was here. That and to find out just what kind of woman Luna Lovegood was, why his son would marry her and why Harry would rave so vehemently about. So far, she seemed pleasant, if a little strange.

The moment of truth came all too soon when they came into the sitting room portion of the strange circular room, opposite from the kitchen. Luna had immediately skipped over to the kitchen, bustling around like the good hostess she was. That left the newcomers to face the men seated at the table.

Seth heard, rather than saw, Harry gulp.

Seated from left to right at a table rounded to fit with the room was a man with long, white hair and strangely colored clothing, an awestruck Jake, another man with red hair streaked with white and an excited smile, and finally one last man with peppered brown grey hair and a heavily lined face. The minute his eyes landed on Harry, Jake was on his feet opening his mouth to speak. Or yell or growl. The scowl he wore seemed to support the latter two. He was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat very loudly. Anything Seth's fellow wolf had to say fell away when he realized his father was there. Fury quickly melted away as he adopted an "oh shit, I'm so dead" deer in head lights sort of look.

"Jacob Aaron Black," Billy intoned flatly. Jake flinched, "Outside, now."

There was a moment's worth of hesitation before Jake was pulling out from his seat and coming around the table, muttering a quiet "okay dad". He made a stop in front of Harry, standing tall and stiff before the green eyed man. Glowering at him, promising that that wouldn't be the end of things, he followed the impatient man in the wheel chair out of the house, the door slamming behind him as he went. That left Seth and Harry alone with the men still at the table. All of them had eyes for only Harry. The one with long hair stood suddenly.

"Harry Potter!" he exclaimed with a bright smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. His hands fidgeted spasmodically, "Very nice of you to drop in!" He walked to the center of the room where the spiraling staircase was. "I'd love to chat, but-but-" he paused, crossing his eyes, brow creasing from thinking so hard, "The Quibbler! There was something I had to- um, something to scrib-scrabble, so I need to be going up and be, um, doing. That. So sorry. Maybe we'll chat later."

With that final word, the man fled up the stairs, much to the bewilderment of everyone there.

"Don't be concerned about Daddy," Luna said, reentering the conversation with a tray laden with tea and treats, "Harry simply makes him nervous sometimes."

Scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, Seth just nodded and took her word for it. Beside him, Harry was starting to look the way Jake had, cornered, shrinking at the presence of the men still at the table. He concluded that Harry probably knew them, but didn't know how. Harry knew a lot of people, mentioned many names in his stories about the wizarding world and his childhood.

"Harry," the near white haired redhead said, standing and moving over to Harry. He embraced him freely, and the dark haired male returned it hesitantly, "Long time no see, son."

It was hard not to notice Harry's wince.

"Sorry about that, Da-" Harry cut himself off suddenly, "Arthur."

Awkwardly, the man, Arthur, pulled away, but he still had a wide smile on his face, though there was something in his eyes, an emotion Seth couldn't place.

"We were just discussing plans for the ceremony with Luna, Jake, and Xeno," Arthur explained. "Molly and I, we offered to let them have it at the Burrow. We've hosted so many weddings there, we could do it in our sleep."

This seemed to be the wrong thing for the man to say to Harry, as his lips thinned, his eyes closed, and he took a long deep breath in through his nose. Arthur seemed to realize this as well, because muted mortification touched upon his features. When neither said anything, the final man stood and made his way to Arthur's side and placed a hand on his shoulder. Though still flustered, Arthur seemed to relax some at this.

"Mr. Potter," the man greeted evenly with a nod.

Harry snapped to attention.

"Mr. Diggory." It came at a whisper.

"Arthur and I ought to be leaving now," Mr. Diggory said, glancing at Arthur before returning his gaze to Harry, "You look exhausted. And I'm sure you and your friends need to get settled in."

Arthur nodded in agreement, not trusting himself to speak.

"Is it possible we can meet at another time Luna?" Mr. Diggory asked the blonde.

"Quite possible, Amos," she replied amiably, "Fire call and we'll speak then."

"I will. Have a nice day."

Using the hold he had on Arthur's shoulder, he directed the other man out with him. Just as the two of them made it to the door, they both stopped and turned back to Harry.

"I never thanked you for what you did Mr. Potter," he paused, "Harry," he amended, "for Cedric." There was sadness, longing, in Mr. Diggory's voice.

"I-" Harry started.

"Take care of yourself," Mr. Diggory said, moving to the door, "I will see you at the wedding."

The door opened and he let himself out. The sounds of loud arguing slipped in and then were muffled again by the closed door.

"I..." Arthur said, drawing attention back to him. He swallowed, then looked to Harry again, "Don't be a stranger Harry. Molly and I... We aren't angry with you at all."

When Harry nodded, Arthur finally left with a parting wave. The door allowed the yelling to travel inside again.

"Oh my," Luna said, "They really are going at it out there." Her eyebrows furrowed. "How does your friend know my Jacob?"

"He's his dad," Seth provided for her, his gaze never leaving Harry.

There was something wrong. Seth could feel it. Something in Harry was unraveling.

Luna seemed to sense it too.

"I'm going to go see if I can sort that business out," she told him as she passed him, "You stay here and sort out Harry." And then she was out the door.

"Harry? Are you-?"

He never finished the question. Harry fell upon him like an avalanche. Seth stumbled back into the table under the force his imprint had used to throw himself at the shifter. And Seth could feel in his own body, an ache, because Harry ached. After a period of silence, of feeling the table dig into his back unforgiving, holding Harry, there were mumbles. Harry was trying to say something.

"Harry?"

"I need to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Why I was on vacation."

* * *

AN: This chapter was a bitch to write. Or at least, the second half of it was. It was mostly Arthur and Amos that killed me. Sigh. Well, next chapter, I've been building up to it for a while, is a really big talk for Harry and Seth. Woohoo. I want to give a shout out to SanyoshoSajira, whose encouragement helped me finally finish up today. I also want to give a heads up now that a one-shot about the courtship of Luna and Jake is currently under construction. Keep an eye out on the horizon. And for those of you who are thinking it, yes, the chapter is reference to a song by OneRepublic called "Prodigal".


	25. Happiness

Happiness (_Comes After the Rain_)

* * *

"Arthur," Seth said thoughtfully, "I think I remember now. That's the name of Ron's dad."

"Yeah."

He was sitting on the floor against the bed while Seth lay sprawled out upon it. The boy's arm hung off the bed, his hand threaded in Harry's hair. Whether he was aware of it or not, it did wonders for soothing the nerves frayed by the confrontation earlier. They'd retired to the guest room Harry had used in the past whilst visiting Luna. Though emotionally drained, and on the verge of becoming more so, he had enough in him to be touched by the fact Luna had kept the room exactly the same as he'd left it last, years ago.

"You almost called him something else. What was it?"

"Dad."

The hand in his hair stilled momentarily, before resuming its gentle movements. Harry wanted to turn so he could see Seth's face, to figure out by the expression found there what the boy was thinking. The shifter's face was like an open book, he didn't need more than that to know his mind. Instead, he sat in silence, waiting for another question. It came after a minute, hesitantly.

"Does... Does Ron have any sisters?"

"Yeah."

"So then... that means..."

"I've been married before," Harry finished for him, "To Ron's sister Ginny Weasley."

"Are you still married to her?" Seth asked, quietly, fearfully.

This time, Harry did turn to Seth. He pulled himself onto the bed, his knees on the edge his hands on either side of Seth's face, holding it still so he looked straight into his eyes as he hovered over him. Tears had gathered in those eyes, and they were tinged with uncertainty and betrayal.

"No," Harry told him, "No, I wouldn't do that to you."

"Were you ever going to tell me about it? I mean, you've always been honest with me. You told me about the war, and your childhood, and Voldemort. You're entitled to your own secrets but... but you know how I feel about you." Though he couldn't pull away, he diverted his dark eyes. "You didn't think for a second that the fact you were married would be something I'd want to know about? Maybe even need to know about?"

"I'm sorry," Harry apologized, feeling guilty as hell at seeing the hurt he found when he looked at Seth, "I just... the end of my marriage was a hard part of my life. I went to Washington because I needed to give myself time to not think about it and not have people beating down my door to get me to talk about how I felt."

"Ron and Hermione?" Seth asked, a little calmer.

"They were more welcome as far as harassment comes," Harry said bitterly, "When information about my marriage being dissolved was leaked, I had reporters after me twenty four seven for months. I had articles being written about me trying spinning all sorts of crap and lies about why it ended. I just wanted to be left alone." He sighed. "I just got so tired of having to put up with it."

"I'm sorry."

The show of sympathy managed to drag a chuckle out of Harry even if the situation wasn't all that funny. Seth returned his gaze to him, no longer as upset as he'd been.

"You don't have to apologize to me because the wizarding world's reporters are enormous dicks."

"It still blows that they treat you that way. I could never handle being a celebrity."

"I still can't." They both smiled wryly at Harry's try at a joke. Harry's thumbs gently ran across the planes of Seth's face. "I was going to tell you. Someday. When I finally came to terms with it." His eyes swept the room. "And maybe I already have, but these weren't the circumstances I would've wanted to try and explain all of it in."

"She's going to be at the wedding, isn't she?" Seth asked abruptly, drawing Harry's attention back to him, "Ginny I mean."

"Most likely, yeah. Luna's always been very considerate towards me, but there one thing that she did that no one ever could, not take sides in the divorce. Both Ginny and I are her best friends. She wouldn't invite one of us to her wedding and not the other." He forced a laugh. "If I'm the maid of honor, I don't doubt for a second Ginny's one of her other bridesmaids."

"Can you tell me about it?"

"The divorce?"

"Yeah. And everything else, anything you can."

His first instinct was to ask for more time. To put it off just a while longer. But Harry knew he didn't have time anymore. They'd come to this wedding and the life he'd tried to temporarily escape from was catching up with him. It would only hurt Seth to hear the rest of his life story from a stranger. He was briefly reminded of how he felt that night in the Shrieking Shack as he watched Snape bleed to death, as he reeled from the information he'd just learned. Things he'd wished Dumbledore had told him himself. A decade later, even if he'd forgiven Dumbledore for keep such a terrible secret from him, he never stopped being angry for having to find out from someone he'd hated and not from the man himself.

For what felt like the millionth time in just that week, Harry heaved another sigh. He let go of Seth's face, and sat back and upright. Seth followed him up and moved so they were both sitting on the edge of the bed, pressed together from shoulder, to hip, to ankle, Seth's left hooked with Harry's right. Feeling a surge true Gryffindor courage, unlike the cocky bravado he'd adopted to keep people on their toes, he took the boy's hand in his own and got ready to begin.

"The only good way to explain something is to start at the beginning I guess... The first time I met her, she was just this little red-headed girl who had such a huge crush on me, she blushed whenever she saw me and even put her elbow in a butter dish because she was so nervous."

From the corner of his eye, he saw and knew the wolf was fighting to keep a smile off his face at the visual. It was encouraging. He'd been worried the topic of Ginny would have been torture for Seth.

"And she was Ron's kid sister. So I guess I didn't really think much more of her than that. Ron and I did have to rescue her from this enormous snake monster and Voldemort though."

"I bet there was more of a story to that than just rescuing her."

"Of course." Harry nodded and laughed. "But it was so long ago. A lot of my confrontations with Voldemort blend together these days, there were just so many." At Seth's frown, he went back to what they'd been originally talking about. "After saving her, we didn't talk. I saw her at the Burrow sometimes when I stayed with the Weasley's, but I was always too busy with Hermione and Ron trying to deal with whatever new crisis popped up. And then suddenly, after years of her being in the background, she'd managed to throw herself back into the forefront of my life. The war was starting to heat up and I was constantly at odds with either Ron or Hermione. Ginny seemed to be one of the only people who stayed constant and managed to distract me from all of the things going wrong in my life. She made me forget I was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Savior, and the Chosen One. She just made me feel like just Harry, a guy who liked quidditch, had two best mates and hated going to Potions class like everyone else. Even when I tried to push her away, she stuck with me through everything."

"And you fell in love with her."

It wasn't accusatory. Just stating a fact.

"Yeah. I fell in love with her. Took me by surprise when I finally realized it. Well, more like, it took me by surprise when I was the last person to know it and Hermione finally took pity on me helped me figure it out. I was kinda daft back then when it came to girls. When the war was over, and Voldemort was finally dead, I went back to school to take my last year at Hogwarts. Those were probably the happiest days of my life, hanging out by the lake with Ginny, Hermione, Ron and Luna, just being a teenager and having the girl I loved in my arms."

He closed his eyes, trying to fully envision the wind blowing through his hair, the warm sun on his skin, and his face buried in red hair. Back then, he really had been happy.

"I proposed to her on Valentine's Day. She said yes and we got married on her birthday in at the Burrow."

Beside him, Seth gave an enormous exhale of breath. He paused in his recounting to look at the boy, who looked as if he'd been punched in the gut.

"How are you even okay being here?" Seth asked him incredulously, before the expression morphed into mortification, "I mean, Harry, I'm so sorry. I pushed you into coming back and now you're going to have to see her again at another wedding, and-"

"Shh," Harry shushed, squeezing his hand, "You need to let me finish." Seth blinked and then blushed. "When I'm done, you can apologize as profusely, you want. Not that you should. It's not your fault. Okay?"

When he received a guilty nod, the wizard pushed on.

"The first couple years of our married life were fine. We were fresh out of school and looking to find our way in the world together. I became an auror. It had always been my ambition to do it, and it didn't hurt that I fought in the war alongside the minister. I flew through training and rose through the ranks quickly. Ginny decided to become a professional quidditch player, and she thoroughly enjoyed her career choice. Life seemed perfect. But we both knew there was something missing.

"Kids," Harry said quietly, after a long pause, "Almost all of Ron and Ginny's older brother's were married and having kids or planning on having them. And at first we were content with just living vicariously through them and babysitting every now and then. But the longer we just sat with the idea, the more we thought about it. The more we thought, maybe we _should_ have some kids of our own.

"When I was a kid, I desperately wanted a family who loved me. Growing up with the Dursley's was... lonely. And disappointing. I dreamed my parents would come back from the dead, or I'd have a long lost cool aunt or uncle, and they'd come and take me home. As I got older, especially when I entered the wizarding world, that dream fell into the background. With the Weasley's, I was always surrounded by love. They became my family. But when Ginny and I sat down one day and seriously considered having kids, it came back to me. And I wanted it again. I wanted it real bad."

Here, the green-eyed man had to stop again. This was the hard part of the story. He felt Seth shift even closer.

"We tried so hard..." His voice was becoming haggard. "Ginny, she... it wasn't her fault. She..." Bringing one of his hands up and he put it shakily over his eyes, feeling the moisture spill onto his fingers. "His name was supposed to be James Sirius... after my dad and my godfather."

"Oh God," he heard Seth whisper.

"After we lost the baby, Ginny was upset but she hadn't give up hope just yet. When we decided to try again, we went to see a mediwitch about improving our chances, play on the safe side you know? That was when we were given the news that Ginny was unable to ever have children again. Her body wouldn't be able to go through pregnancy again. It was a devastating blow to her. Her inability to have kids made her feel like she was a disappointment. To herself, to her family, and most importantly to me. There was no convincing her to think otherwise.

"She thought she was holding me back by keeping me from continuing the Potter line. I tried to tell her that it didn't matter to me, that having an heir was just whole load of wizarding tradition crap. That I didn't want kids if I didn't have them with her. I just wanted her. I spent a year trying to convince her to help me save our marriage. But, she wouldn't listen to anything I said. I held her as she cried and screamed, and begged me over and over to divorce her. And after months of it, I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't keep trying to convince her. For so long it hurt me to see her in pain..." Harry winced. "I can't remember when I stopped trying to reason with her and started letting her change my mind, but I did. I let her make me believe the only way I could help her get better was to leave her. It felt like the biggest mistake of my life, but I didn't know what else I could do."

"Did she ever get better?"

"Maybe," Harry said with a shoulder jerk that, had he had more energy, could have been a shrug, "I haven't seen her since the divorce was finalized. I packed up and left that day and kept away because I thought that was what she wanted. I lived here with Luna for a while, and avoided most of the Weasleys. Ron and Hermione were probably the only ones I did talk to, mostly because they were too stubborn to understand that I wanted space." His smile was self-deprecating. "And maybe it was for the better that they didn't leave me alone. I was a mess after everything, depressed and drinking myself to sleep some nights. I needed someone to remind me I had obligations as an auror and as a godfather to Teddy. It may not have been healthy how I threw myself into those things, but it helped me somewhat. I know that by the time I finally did go on vacation, my boss was getting ready force me on a mandatory one.

"I just woke up one morning thinking, I need to get away. No magic. No job. No stress. So I spent a week planning my trip and hopped a plane to Washington. And that... that's about it. You know everything," Harry finished lamely, trying to sound flippant even if he was ready to rip at the seams.

This was the first time he'd talked out loud about Ginny and the baby and the divorce for such a long time. Part of him felt like it wanted to curl up in some dark lonely corner of nowhere and try recover his reopened wound that that entire period of his life had left in his chest. Some bigger part, though, deep down at his core, was finally at rest. At rest in the fact that there were no longer any secrets between him and Seth. The past week since he'd returned to LaPush, he and Seth had been growing closer, more intimate than he'd dared even guessing at the day they'd first talked at the diner. Keeping his failed marriage a secret had not sat well with him at all, but he hadn't know how to tell him. He'd been keeping his bonded at a distance when he knew it was as unfair as leaving him to help Bella. But now, finally, the last thing he had between them was gone.

"Harry."

His name being called pulled him back. Seth had wrapped himself around him, nuzzled his head into Harry's neck. He was genuinely made content by the gesture which had become familiar to him at first as something instinctively canine in nature. It had recently become something that he now strictly associated Seth and warmth and healing. He'd loved Ginny with all of himself. It wasn't his way to give any less than that. After leaving her, Harry had never thought he'd be capable of loving someone that much ever again. With Seth, someone who loved him so loyally, so completely, it was unusually easy to be selfish and take all of the love he gave.

And he realized it didn't hurt at all to give back as good as he got.

* * *

AN: I'm torn on this chapter. It feels good. And then it feels weird. It was honestly a hard chapter to write. Where Renesmee was easy to write out, James Sirius was difficult and actually made me really sad. And I didn't want anyone to be the bad guy in the end of Harry and Ginny's marriage, for those of you who wanted straight up Ginny bashing. She's just a broken hearted woman who lost her child. I'm sorry if you expected different. So here's a bittersweet Valentine's Day chapter.


	26. Fools

Fools (Rush In)

* * *

"Your hair's getting kinda long."

Seth gave him a look.

"Really? Are you really making comments on my hair? Have you seen what yours looks like lately? Or for the last ten years?"

"Excuse me, how would you know anything about my hair? For all you know, maybe I just style my hair this way. Tousled is popular these days."

"Tousled maybe, but looking like you head's been attacked by a squirrel? Not so much." Harry gave him an incensed glare. "Besides, I know for a fact that your hair's always looked like this because Hermione's sent me tons of pictures of you guys from your school years."

"Hermione..." Harry hissing to himself, "Just you wait until you finally outlive your usefulness..."

"Which will never happened," Seth piped up, easily hearing the other's quiet threats, "Because Hermione will never stop being useful. Otherwise, you'll actually have to learn how to tie your ties."

He found himself on the receiving end of a teary, pouty-lipped look. For a moment, he was breathless. The next he was fighting to quell the hilarity rising up in him at the expression.

"Why can't you tie it for me?" Harry whined.

"For your own good, I can't enable your laziness." He smirked. "Besides, it's funny watching a thin piece of cloth own you."

If he wasn't focusing so hard in trying to pull the long end of the tie through the wrong loop, the wizard would've been making his displeasure at being mocked known.

"You do know that it's just the rehearsal? I don't think we're supposed to be _too_dressed up." Seth motioned to himself. He was wearing a brown dress shirt and slacks, but that was it. Harry looked as if he was trying to deck himself out in preparation of meeting the Queen.

Stopping his fussing, Harry blinked owlishly and looked at him, "Really?" He frowned down at himself and then immediately tossed the tie behind himself and shucked off the bulky outer layer of his dress robe, leaving himself in similar attire to Seth, only his own shirt was an eye-catching crimson. The vest he wore over it clung to his form just right, showing off Harry's lean torso. Seth was incredibly appreciative of the sight, and couldn't stop himself from smacking Harry's hands away when they had gone to remove the piece of clothing. That had gotten him a questioning look that he would only answer with a blush and a shrug. Childishly, Harry stuck his tongue out at him when he realized Seth wouldn't give him an answer. Taking the wolf's hand, he dragged him out of their room and downstairs. It was heartening to see Harry in this kind of light-hearted spirit. Especially after yesterday...

There were many things Seth had been forced to accept in his life. That he had the ability to turn into an enormous wolf and was obligated to use that ability to protect people with it. That his father had died and though it wasn't his fault, the shock of his becoming a wolf had brought on the fatal heart attack. That he imprinted on a man who was not only many years older than him, but a wizard as well. They were all tough realities he'd struggled with. That he still struggled with but had accepted. He was dealing the best way he could figure out how. Though his life had been hard, Harry's life had been even more so. Seth knew that if it had been himself, he wouldn't have been able to cope with it. Just the thought of losing what little family he had left, or the pack, or God forbid, Harry, was crippling.

Despite everything, Harry was still standing. Still smiling and joking around.

That was the way he wanted to keep Harry. He'd already made the mistake of pushing Harry into coming back to England. He'd be damned if he let anything else he could prevent hurt Harry. If anyone tried, well, he was going to start biting some people's faces off.

He nodded to himself. Yup, that's what he'd do.

* * *

It wasn't supposed to be much yet. And he guessed it wasn't supposed to be. Like Seth said, this was just the rehearsal. Pretty much a dry run without any of the other stuff, like decorations and formal dress. Truthfully, he wanted to skip to the end. See the finished product. Was it possible to reverse engineer a time turner for such purposes? He'd have to look into that. Maybe he'd put together a crack magical think tank team made up of the greatest wizarding minds he could find. People like Luna who had creativity that rivaled his own, George whose chaotic genius could most definitely be harnessed through bribery or blackmail, Nicholas Flamel, the old bastard, who Harry refused to believe was actually dead, and Hermione...

Harry sighed and mentally face palmed. Seth was right. He really did depend on Hermione all of the time for everything.

As maid of honor (he still didn't know how he felt about that), he was privy to the guest list. Everyone from the DA, everyone from the Order, as well as some of Luna's colleagues and whatever family she wanted there. It would be nice to see his friend, though. All of his friends. He hadn't seen Hermione since just before the Bella thing. And as for the rest of his friends, it had been even longer than that. While Hermione and Ron were the most zealous and overprotective, that didn't stop any of his other friends from being their own version of smothering. There'd be a line people waiting to strangle him. Of course, they'd claim it was hugging, but he knew better.

Sooner than he wanted, he was greeted with the sight of one of his two childhood homes away from the Dursleys.

Nothing about it had changed. The Burrow had never been what anyone considered a four star hotel. Without major reconstructions, it never would be. And it was too structurally unsound to withstand them. But it was the charm, he supposed. He remembered Ron always being ashamed of the Burrow, but to Harry, it was his perfect. After years of living in Petunia's boring, abnormally clean and tidy house, Harry wanted different, exciting. Rest assured, the Burrow had different and exciting in spades.

For all the unhappiness the sight of it brought him, the circumstances had him coming back to Burrow, he knew he'd really missed it. Before the divorce, he couldn't go long without popping in to see Molly and Arthur with Ginny, or out having drinks with all of the Brothers Weasley when they all had a free weekend, and babysitting his multiple nieces and nephews. After, life had been starkly different. He'd attempted to cut himself off from all of them. Part of his misguided attempt to give Ginny the clean break she'd wanted. It hadn't been any use trying to shake Ron and Hermione. But without Ginny, or Molly and Arthur, or the rest of the family, it felt like he was trying to go through the motions with an arm cut off. He didn't see his nieces and nephews, or have lunch and drinks with his in-laws. So much had been missing, and wrong. What was left stopped feeling real day after day.

He really had needed that vacation. Badly.

Looking out of the corner of his eye to his left, he considered the boy walking with him. His time away from the wizarding world had felt like a dream. Something from another world. He'd been trying to get away from magic, responsibility and his own personal issues, and had somehow walked himself into a situation that brought him all three of the problems in one package. For the life of him, though, he couldn't muster up the need to care anymore. Harry hadn't liked the whole imprint prospect. It rubbed him wrong the way the prophecy saying he'd had to killed Voldemort or be killed had. But it wouldn't have been fair to buck the system at the expense of the poor kid who'd found himself irreparably tied to him. Especially when said kid didn't have the same luxury Harry had to just wash his hands of it.

Even if he hated being forced, obligated, tied down without consent, he'd honestly been too interested to see where it went with the boy. And it was a hell of a surprise to find out along the way that the boy sitting on his own mountain of secrets and problems. He couldn't help but be fascinated. He hadn't even noticed how deep he'd gotten until Bella's disaster of a wedding. Just the thought of Seth getting dragged into that kind of conflict had made him violently angry, and above all, scared. Scared that something precious was going to be taken away from him again.

At that moment, he'd known. And he'd vowed that he wouldn't let Sam Uley's useless laws or Bella Swan's irrational need to get laid/death wish take Seth away from him. They could stupid and suicidal with their own lives, not Seth's.

Now, he wondered how things would go. He'd been nervous about bringing Seth. Mostly because he was sure Sue and Leah would kill him for even suggesting such a thing.

(_He could almost hear Leah accusing him of doing unmentionably naughty things to Seth with her eyes._)

But he'd also been concerned about exposing Seth to this part of his life. It was one thing to tell him about everything and show him some spells. It was another to actually bring him into it, with all of its dysfunctional wonder. Seth was only just beginning to understand what it meant to be Harry Potter in the wizarding world. He wasn't so cut off from the wizarding world that he didn't know about what the rumor mill was running about him, making up the craziest theories about his disappearance. He didn't even know how they'd gotten them, but he'd seen blurry photos of himself and Bella splashed across the front page of several tabloids. If that was the reaction when they thought he was courting a mystery woman, what would it be if they found out he was courting a male who was also a minor and a muggle? Even if they were bonded, it would be scandal.

He didn't entertain any illusions that their relationship would stay secret now that they were here. While he could trust Xeno and Luna to be discreet, it _would_get out and when it did, the shitstorm that would follow, he didn't know if he could protect Seth from it. There'd be no saving his own reputation, that was for sure, but he didn't want Seth to be subject to the same kind of treatment he been getting for years. Harry was used to it, he could take it, he wasn't sure if Seth could.

Finally, there was the last complication.

Ginny.

The thought of his ex-wife made his stomach heavy like lead. As they grew closer to the Burrow, he wondered if she was still living with her parents. After the divorce, he'd heard from Ron that she'd moved out of their flat and in with Molly and Arthur. If she really was at the Burrow, it would be all the harder to avoid her. The rational part of him knew he'd have to see and interact with her, since it was her best friend's wedding and the wedding was happening on the front lawn of her parent's house. But the part of him that still hurt over losing her and James, that was scared about what she'd say about him and Seth, made him want to keep running away.

It took everything in him to not turn around and head back to Luna's. As it was, only Seth tugging him along was keeping him moving forward instead of standing still.

"You won't be alone in there Harry," he heard Seth say to him, letting his hand fall from where it had been on his elbow to brush against his own, "I'm here."

"Yeah." He looked down at their hands, feeling tingles spreading where Seth's skin met with his. "Oh, bugger it all." He took Seth's hand and weaved their fingers together. "We're together. When we talk in there, if anyone asks, you're not just Harry Potter's guest, you're Harry Potter's boyfriend, partner, whatever the bloody hell you want to call yourself."

"You sure?" Seth asked, "I mean, I don't care either way, but my family and the pack kind of had to accept us. You don't have to, you know, out yourself to them if it's going to cause you problems."

"I'm going to," Harry said, "If this is supposed to be my homecoming, I'm doing it right." He lifted their joined hands. "I'm putting everything on the table. I'm not going to hide this. And if anyone has a problem with it, you send them to me and I'll make them sorry they even thought something you didn't like."

"Dude, is it really gonna be that bad?" Seth asked, letting their hands fall again and swing lazily between them.

"I honestly don't know," Harry answered, "I mean, the wizarding world doesn't frown on same sex relationships, but at the same time, they don't encourage them. Especially for heirs of prominent magical bloodlines."

"Which you are."

"I am. It's bound to upset some people, particularly the Wizengamot who want baby Potters being brought into the world to keep the line going, but I've been done caring for years. I'm here to be my friend's maid of honor. Not their perfect celebrity," Harry said fiercely, his eyes practically on fire.

"If that's what you wanna do, than sure." Seth grinned. "You do realize you're moving really slow right? We're going to be late if you keep going at that rate."

"Hey Seth."

"What?"

"I think we can be a little late."

And then he covered Seth's mouth with his own.

* * *

Hermione was pacing.

It was a bad habit, one the floor of her own home suffered for, but it gave her something to do when she didn't know what to do. She desperately wished that Harry had given her more notice about him suddenly deciding to come back after all this time. In fact, she just wanted to straight up strangle him. His decision to leave for vacation more than a year ago without informing her or Ron had been upsetting, but paled to the sheer fury she'd been building up towards him over the months she'd been talking to Seth. She loved Harry like a brother, but he was such an enormous idiot sometimes. He'd left Seth alone when he knew distance would cause the boy to suffer because of the bond. They'd had to hear about his trip through Seth and get the rest of the details from Kingsley after she'd brow-beaten it out of him.

Harry had terrible timing. Luna's husband-to-be hated Harry's guts. Reporters had caught wind of Luna's wedding and were preparing to storm it. And worst of all, Ginny was going to be there.

Merlin only knew how he'd react to seeing her again. She distinctly remembered Harry being laid out on the floor of a motel bathroom wallowing in self-pity and misery. Hermione liked being optimistic, hoping that maybe after so long, her friends would finally work through their problems after years apart. But she was also a realist, and she couldn't help but feel that Harry hadn't gotten any better. Even with Seth, there was only so much he could take. Some people just never got better.

Especially considering Ginny and how she was now.

She let loose a stream of obscenities she'd only started using thanks to Ron's foul mouth. The both of them would have to be more careful about swearing. Rose was starting to babble and it wouldn't be long before she started speaking. It would be thoroughly tragic if her first words were "bloody hell" or something worse.

"You shouldn't be pacing like that Mione. You're probably jostling the baby."

Pausing in her movement, she looked to her husband, who had Rose held with one arm, their little girl's face tucked into the crook of his neck. She looked down at her distended belly. With a sigh, she forced herself to calm. Her stress probably wasn't good for the baby either.

"So how's Lancelot today?" Ron asked, placing a hand on the bump.

Hermione scowled.

"Stop calling him that ridiculous name," she demanded, "I know your family has a tradition with those Arthurian names, but I refuse to call him Lancelot."

"As if Hugo's any better," Ron argued back, "You just want him to have your initials 'cause Rosie already has mine."

She fought the urge to snap at him. He was actually right, but it wasn't like she was going to admit he was. Instead, she chose to ignore him.

"You're sulking!" he teased from behind her.

Grumbling to herself, she went to the window to look out across the marshes. It wasn't all that interesting. A little nicer out since it was summer. There were some birds out, and there was even a couple snogging...

Her face colored rapidly.

"Bloody hell!" she shrieked, her face pressing against the glass, as her mind tried to catch up with what she was watching.

"What are you yelling about Mione? You almost woke Rosie."

He came up beside her and peered out the window, squinting at the sight.

"All I see are two blokes and..." he trailed off before echoing her curse, "If that's Harry, then... What in Merlin's name are they doing that for here and now and out their where everyone can see and..."

Ron began to hyperventilate. Hermione was almost glad that she had someone to share her panic attack with, because now, she only wanted to throttle Harry even more. What if someone other than her and Ron were to see them?

"Who's the bloke Harry's eating the face off of?"

Both she and Ron screamed in shock as they turned to see who was behind them. Rose, finally tired of all of the noise, woke up and started to cry in protest. Ron struggled to soothe their daughter back into restfulness while Hermione swallowed dryly while staring up into the curious eyes of her brother in law.

George Weasley.

Glancing at Ron, she knew she'd be getting no help from there any time soon. By the look on George's face, he wouldn't be letting what was going on outside go. This day was just going to get worse wasn't it? She massaged her temple with one hand and her stomach with the other and didn't bother answering her own question. Anyone who knew her, Ron and Harry knew the answer.

* * *

AN: Sorry.

.

I suck.

.

Times is hard my friends. Besides having a lot of work to do, I had the hugest case of writer's block. I just didn't know how to follow the last chapter. I wasn't even sure I wanted to write more after it. But I read enough fanfiction myself to know that would have been, pardon my French, fucking evil (_you bitch, you bitch_). So I didn't end it there, and now Jake and Luna's wedding is on, full throttle. Still holding the one-shot, but I'll be posting it soon. This was an attempt to go back to the humor of chapters past. And of course, have blatant sexy time and voyeur!pregnant!Hermione. Hopefully y'all enjoyed this one!


	27. Obvious

Obvious (_As a Giant in a Crowd of Goblins_)

* * *

"Harry, you stupid wanker!" a man exclaimed as he came storming out of the house, taking Harry by the arm pulling at him.

A rush of anger surged through him as he watched his imprint be manhandled. Yanking Harry back, he snarled at the unknown man, just barely suppressing his more vicious instincts from coming out. And the only reason he had reservations about tearing the guy apart was because the guy had a kid in his arms.

"Woah!" The man backed away. "I come in peace mate." His face split in a disarmingly wide grin. "We haven't met in person yet, but Hermione and I have been writing you."

Blinking, his anger began to dribble away as he cocked his head thoughtfully at the fiery haired man.

"You're... Ron?" Seth asked, getting a nod, "Oh, uh, sorry about that, and hi?" He offered an embarrassed and apologetic wave.

"Animal instincts of the imprint thing right?" Ron nodded to himself understandingly when Seth said yes. "Bill still gets growly like that sometimes when people get a little too handsy with Fleur. All protective and such."

"Yeah," Seth agreed flushed with embarrassment. He'd just growled at his imprint's best friend, "Sorry again."

"Don't worry about it," Ron said waving it off unconcerned. He turned to Harry, glowering at him, "Usually, I'd be tearing you a new one about running off and doing God knows what without telling me or Mione, but right now, you're needed elsewhere."

"Why?"

"To save my wife from interrogation. It's all your fault really," Ron replied, beginning to herd both Harry and Seth into the house.

"Why exactly is Hermione getting interrogated?" Seth asked with a frown.

"Because of the two of you. Instead of getting all of your," he gesticulated wildly, "funny business sorted before you showed up at the rehearsal, you two started snogging in the garden of my parent's home and now my brother's got her cornered in the kitchen trying to get all the dirty details on the two of you because everyone's got it in their heads that if you want dirt on Harry, you harass Mione or me for it."

Both Seth and Harry shared a look of red faced understanding.

"Ah."

"Here we are!" Ron announced, shoving the two of them into the kitchen where Seth spotted some of Hermione's bushy brown hair peeking out past the shoulder of another tall redhead in there as well, "Now unhand my wife you, cad!"

Hermione shoved her way around the other man, and Seth was startled to see how very pregnant she was. She looked to Ron with relief before her eyes fell on Harry and her expression warped into one that really couldn't make its mind up. It was as if she was at war with herself on whether to be very angry or very happy at seeing Harry.

"Harry James Potter!" she shrieked waddling over to him, "What are you-? How dare you-! I..."

"Save it love," Ron said, cutting in, "I already yelled at him."

"Oh." Hermione deflated rapidly, looking disappointed. "Really? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he answered, pulling her at the waist to his side, lowering his head to kiss her forehead, "I know you like your rants, but it's not good for the baby to be riling yourself up like that. How about we just make Harry designated babysitter for a good long while and call it even?"

Hermione looked up at the invisible ceiling thoughtfully before nodding agreeably.

"I suppose that will do. Since when were you so good at compromising?"

"Your first pregnancy Mione. It was compromise or die back then," he told her, leaning in to kiss her full on the lips this time.

As the couple kissed, Harry and the other redhead, as one, started making gagging noises. This got them the finger from Ron.

"Don't you guys have to you know, clear babysitting duty with me first?"

"I don't think they were really giving you a choice there mate," the unidentified man commented.

"Bugger," Harry muttered, before glancing at him, "Oh, hey there George."

"Heya Harry," the man, George, said, saluting Seth's imprint, "Now who's this?" He gestured at Seth, who timidly shrank a bit behind Harry.

"This is Seth Clearwater," Harry said pushing him forward as he introduced Seth, "He's my boyfriend. Seth, this is George Weasley, Ron's older brother."

George leered a bit at the both of them, only serving to fluster Seth more.

"Come off it George, you're making Seth uncomfortable," Ron demanded, punching his brother's shoulder.

"I can't help it. I haven't seen Harry in ages and the minute I do, I find out, this!" He gestured meaningfully at the two males.

"And is that a problem?" Harry asked, coolly, his green eyes growing sharp with threat of violence at the wrong answer.

"Not really," George replied with a careless grin, hands on his hips, "I myself was always a bit heteroflexible back at Hogwarts."

"Heteroflexible?" the dark haired wizard sputtered as his menace evaporated, "What is that even supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know," the older Weasley said, "girls, definitely," he winked at a glaring Hermione, "and boys, why not?" he winked at Seth next, "Equal opportunity, I say."

"Don't make me have to challenge you to a duel to defend the collective honor of all people you've just offended and/or propositioned," Harry warned, he eyes narrowing behind his spectacles.

"I call being your second!" Ron offered gleefully.

"Actually Ron, I think I already have my second," the once 'chosen one' said, pointing just past George.

"George..." a very feminine someone said sweetly, with thinly concealed menace simmering underneath.

George paled before plastering a very large nervous grin.

"Angie!" he exclaimed, turning to face the woman standing not more than a foot or so behind him.

Seth had noticed her approaching a while ago but hadn't thought much of it till now. She was tall, matching George for height, with dark skin that could rival the shifter's own. And she was very pretty, though the cool look she shot at George made her look more the role of a terrifying beauty at the minute.

"I think we should postpone duels for a later date," the woman, Angie, spoke, before turning to George who was beginning to visibly sweat, "Your mother sent me out to fetch the lot of you. There's a wedding rehearsal to be had." She reached out and took a hold of George. "Let's go now, shall we George?" And then she led him off, tossing a, "It was nice seeing you Potter," over her shoulder.

"You know that you're the sun and sky, the only one in my life, don't you Angie? My goddess among all women and men? The most beauteous..."

The sound of George's groveling cut off as the couple exited the kitchen to head out into the garden, the door swinging shut behind them. A couple seconds passed before Hermione was shuffling over to the counter opposite and grabbing a stick, a wand Seth corrected himself, and whispered a word, _muffliato_. She then rounded on Harry and Seth once more.

"Harry, I do hope for both yours and Seth's sake that you were not trying to keep your," she paused, "relationship a secret. Because I'd hate to have to inform you that you've failed miserably," she said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

"We weren't going to hide it, we just didn't want to broadcast it to the entire wizarding world the minute we arrived in St. Ottery," Harry admitted with some regret.

With a grimace, Seth nodded as well.

"There're worse people than George knowing," Ron remarked, "Sure, he'll be an utter bastard trying to get all of the dirty details out of the two of you, but he wouldn't spread it around unless you two wanted it spread around." He glanced at them. "Which you don't. And he's proven that he's obviously not bothered by well, two blokes being together. Should I be freaked out that my brother just admitted he might've been into blokes? Not that I have any problems with you and Seth, mate," Ron blurted out quickly to them, "It's just that he's my brother and I feel like I should be freaked out. But I'm not. Is it weird that I'm not?"

"I wouldn't dwell on it so much Ron," Hermione said, placing a calming hand on the back of her husband's neck, "George is simply George. He fancied both sexes, and now he's married to Angelina. Simple as that."

"Why is it that I'm the only one who's still fixating on this?" Ron complained.

"I'm still a little thrown," offered Harry sympathetically.

"Well, this isn't the time for this anymore," Hermione interjected, "We've been dallying in here long enough, and there is a rehearsal that we're supposed to be at. Especially you Harry."

"Oh yeah," the black haired wizard said with wide eyes. He looked to Seth, " You ready?"

Not really, the boy thought.

"Yeah," he forced himself to reply.

"Then let's go."

Harry led the way, Hermione and Ron instantly trailing after him. Seth scrabbled to catch up and fall in step with the three. Hermione and Ron badgered Harry to tell them exactly what he'd been up to this last year. The shifter could feel Harry's amusement as he gave his friends evasive answers that only served to make Hermione more worked up and Ron exasperated. He jerked in surprise when he felt his imprint's arm drape across his shoulders, but relaxed.

They could do this.

* * *

He was tempted to change his mind the minute they joined the rehearsal group in time to see more redheads than he'd ever seen in his life and an abundance of both strange and unrecognizable fruits floating, actually floating, in the air around them.

It was mostly the redheads though, and not the fruit that was making nervous. The fruit was kind of awe-inspiring.

And more specifically, it was the redheaded woman standing with Luna.

It took no time at all to realize the minute his eyes landed upon her that this was Ginny. Seeing her now, it was like a character in a book had suddenly, horribly, come to life for him. Until now, she was a piece, a huge, important piece, of Harry's past, but she hadn't had a face or freckles or those awkward elbows. She was pretty, but if her eyes weren't so sad, she could've been beautiful. Her freckles dotted every exposed spot of skin much like her brothers. What had him most captivated were her elbows. How they jutted out, and he could imagine one in butter, and one linking with Harry's as they took a stroll, and both pressed upon a table top as this woman wept into her hands over her loss.

God.

She was real.

It was all real.

He almost missed Harry's hand tightening his shoulder as they grew closer, but when he felt it, he was yanked out of his own fixation and sharply reminded that it was Harry who had to deal with this. That this was Harry who had to face his ex-wife after the tragedy (which was the only way you could describe it) that was their marriage.

Though he was a mess on the inside, Seth did the only thing he could do, had to do, for Harry and reached up and gently pulled Harry's hand off his shoulder. For a moment, Harry looked a little confused and hurt, until Seth gave his fingers the slightest unnoticeable squeeze and released them.

"You can do this."

With a brave nod, Harry stepped away from him, heading up to the front of the wedding rehearsal procession, where Luna and Ginny stood. Seth watched as Luna immediately noticed Harry coming and engaged him in conversation as if she wasn't in the middle of two ex spouses meeting again for the first time since the divorce went through. At a glance, Harry looked fine, but his arms twitched as if he was fighting to keep them from moving. Not okay. His eyes slid over a bit, landing on the redheaded woman. She was faring even worse than Harry. She looked to be completely knocked off balance by Harry's appearance. Thanks to his enhanced sight, he could see every tremor that wracked her body.

He could hate her, or at least dislike her, but she looked so frail and pathetic, he wanted to give her a hug.

That would be awkward though.

Seth would be forced to introduce himself to her.

How did one introduce themselves in a situation like this?

"Hi! You're Ginny right? My name is Seth Clearwater and I'm your ex-husband's male, underage, shape shifting, American soul mate. Nice to meet you."

Yeah.

No.

Hell bloody no.

(Harry was obviously still proving to be a bad influence if he was now swearing like him, even in the privacy of his own mind)

There was a tug at his elbow and he saw Ron at his side motioning for him to follow him off to the side. As if she'd gotten there by apparition, Hermione was suddenly at Ginny Weasley(or was it still Potter?)'s side, looking almost as uncomfortable just being there as Harry and Ginny did standing next to one another. Her eyes moved like ping-pong ball match the way the bounced nervously back and forth between the two. It didn't help any that every now and then she would stop and look in his and Ron's direction, more specifically in Seth's direction. Was she trying to get him and Harry found out? He paused and blinked. Was he being paranoid? Seth had to admit he'd become accustomed to dealing with overly perceptive people like Harry, and Leah and his mom. Not everyone walked around assuming and coming to (usually very accurate) conclusions off of so little. Still, he was not comforted.

"Here," Ron said from beside him.

The shifter suddenly found his arms full of a baby that was swathed in a mint green blanket.

"What-?"

"You were looking a little twitchy there mate," the man said, patting him on the back, "Rose might help you get your mind off of whatever it is."

"I-" He stopped, sighing and looking down at the baby in his arms.

She was cute. There was lightest wisp of fiery hair upon her head and her eyes were closed as she slept.

"Mione and I did a good job didn't we?" Ron asked jokingly, gazing lovingly down at his daughter.

"Yeah," Seth answered.

"I'm really glad to finally meet you though. I mean, getting to know you through the letters was alright, but I really wanted to meet you. Hermione kept on telling me she had a good feeling about you, but I felt like I needed a chance to feel you out too."

Seth stayed quiet, tensing at this.

"You know, Harry's had a tough life."

"I know."

"Then you know that another good thing gone bad would probably kill him."

Something in Seth's chest seized at the phrasing, but he willed himself to calmly nod, because he knew Ron was right, and continue to hear him out.

"But I don't think you're going to go bad," Ron finally said with a smile," You're not going to hurt him."

"Because of the imprint?"

"It's more than that, though it's insurance that you'll never hurt him on purpose. What I mean is, you seem kinda right for Harry."

"How?" The shifter couldn't stop himself from looking at Ginny. It was a look Ron didn't miss.

"Ah." There was a long uncomfortable pause. "Don't get me wrong, I love my sister and what happened with their baby..." The pause this time only increased in length and his discomfort. "That was one of the saddest days of my life, finding out my nephew, my best friend and my sister's baby, was gone. But what happened after that. What she did was just stupid."

"But she was trying to do the right thing..." Seth tried to defend, even though he didn't know why he was trying.

"It wasn't the right thing for Harry." There was something in Ron's eyes. He couldn't quiet explain it, but it was unmovable. "I can't forgive her for that. He still loved her. She still loved him. It shouldn't have mattered whether she could make a family for him or not. They could've adopted. They could've used another mother like how Hermione told me those muggle couples do when they can't have kids. They didn't have to split up like that. "

The silence was agreement enough.

"But that's not really what I was trying to talk about. What I was trying to say, was why I think you'll do it better this time. Are you ever going to leave him?"

"No," Seth answered firmly with a frown.

"Will you ever make him leave?"

"I couldn't make him. Not like I'd even want him to. He made me a promise to stay. And Harry doesn't break his promises."

"And that's why I think you're okay, mate."

An enormous grin broke out on Ron's face as he reached back slapped Seth on the back, although he did it gently. Probably so as not to jostle Rose, who had gotten very comfortable in Seth's arms. It was most likely the extra heat he was giving off that had lulled her off. The shifter pulled a face at the redhead, still not getting what he'd meant but deciding he didn't need an explanation. It was obvious he'd passed Ron's ambush of a test. Even if he didn't understand what he had done to earn it, he couldn't help the smallest bit accomplishment at knowing he had it.

* * *

For the rest of the rehearsal, he and Ron sat in silence. Nothing more needed to be, or could be said between them at the moment. And, there was an older redheaded woman glaring holes into both him and Ron, so it would probably be fore the best to not talk during the proceedings anyway.

Once the general rehearsal was done, everyone present was herded into the Burrow for the rehearsal dinner. There was no seating plan, no rules, just multitudes of people cramming themselves at the long table, scrabbling to find seats nearest the people they wanted to be sitting with. Harry had had the misfortune of being caught without Ron, Hermione, or Seth. This led to him being dragged into sitting at the other end of the table with a large group of people Seth didn't know but had a vague guess of their identity based on their hair colors. Seth had been both put out and worried about Harry being on his own, but he hadn't been given much time to dwell on either of those feelings when he'd been snagged by Ron and Hermione. They'd pushed and shoved until they'd gotten a corner of the table for the three of them plus the baby. The two of them seated themselves on either side of him and proceeded to interrupt any conversations he was pulled into when people got too curious about why he was at the wedding.

Most people, so far, seemed to be assuming he was Jake's brother, which had him laughing a bit to himself. He didn't brother correcting them, half out of amusement and half because the misdirection wouldn't hurt.

The people he was most concerned about ended up being Arthur, Mr. Diggory and George. It was obvious why with George. He'd seen them. Together. His cheeks flushed at remembering their awkward meeting that had only taken place a couple hours ago. The other two though... That was more complex. He'd arrived with Harry and Billy. More specifically, he'd arrived with Harry. They knew that that he was somehow connected to Harry, and even worse, they were _adult_adults. It wasn't that he didn't consider Harry or Ron or Hermione or even George to be adults. They were, it was just, knowing Harry intimately, and Ron and Hermione fairly well, gave him a different perspective on what was adult and what was old. Besides, they were all so young looking, it was hard to remember they really were so much older than him.

The point was, having adults like Arthur and Mr. Diggory in the know about him and Harry was pretty low on Seth's things to do list.

Ginny was on that list as well, but all things considered, that really went without saying.

It also went with out saying that the food was earth shatteringly good. He'd taken a bite of whatever Hermione and Ron had placed before him and almost died from the flavor sensation overload going on with his taste buds. Whatever it was, looked like a pie, except it was meaty, but it was so good. So good. After that, it was almost like Ron and Hermione couldn't keep up with restocking his plate because he was eating like a man starved for weeks. He was barely remembering to use his silverware as it was.

"I think he has you beat on stuffing his face Ron," he'd heard Hermione say to her husband over him, all fondness and affection.

"Don't be saying that now Mione, else I'll be challenging him to an eating contest and you know how rowdy an eating contest with a Weasley gets."

"I suppose so."

A silence began to fall around the table, which drew his, Ron's and Hermione's attention to the cause of it. Harry had stood from where he'd been sitting at the other end of the table. He shot a quick smile at Seth before looking at Jake and Luna who had been sitting in front of him.

"Hello everyone," he said to the entire room, getting a loud chorus of "hey Harry"s and "good to see you"s in return, "Since I know all of you, introductions won't be necessary. Thanks for that. And thank you all for coming to the rehearsal and dinner for Luna and Jacob's wedding!" Cheers. "In particular, we should all give a big thank you to the Weasleys for hosting this, and especially Mrs. Molly Weasley for making all of this wonderful food."

Some minutes passed as Harry waited for the crowd to calm from praising Molly, the woman Seth could see seated next to Arthur several seats down from where he was. Her cheeks were rosy with contentment as she looked to everyone, Harry receiving most of her attention. Her eyes were the slightest bit teary.

"Now, as usual we do some impromptu toasts for the bride and groom. As the maid of honor," he was interrupted by the guffaws and wolf whistles all around, "I'll say a little piece for the bride."

He rose his glass of fizzy, orange gold liquid, "To Luna! May your day be as special as finding the crumple snorkack someday!"

Everyone rose their glasses and clinked them with another, cheering and gushing at his toast. Harry took a swig of his beverage before stopping halfway through and swallowing quickly. He pinned Jake with a look that on the surface looked friendly, if not for the amount of teeth bared and the steely glint in his eyes.

"Oh, and let's not forget Jacob Black! I don't really have any words for him, other than you make sure you treat her right and not catch a sudden case of cold feet before tomorrow..." the _or else_was left unsaid, "Anyone here have a toast for Jacob?"

Everyone was a little stunned at Harry's cold address to Jake. Even Seth himself, though he understood where it was coming from. No one was stepping up immediately, so Seth found himself on his feet and volunteering. He caught Harry's eyes and gave him a frown of disapproval, which surprisingly got a somewhat abashed look out of his imprint as he sunk back down into his seat. That was enough for now. He probably needed to talk more about this with Harry after his own toast. This was more petty and childish than was usual from him. And inappropriate at a wedding he was supposed to be in charge of.

Seth faced his audience, realizing he'd offered to speak in front of a lot of strangers. Thankfully, this wasn't Seth's first wedding, or even his first toast, so he could wing it for Jake.

"Hey," Seth addressed the group shyly. He looked to familiar faces for support before speaking, "I'm Seth Clearwater, a friend of Jake's from back home." He rose his glass. "To Jake! He's like a brother to me, so I'm glad he's found someone as cool as Luna."

All of them were glad to move past the awkwardness Harry had imposed on the gathering with his unorthodox toast. They started their own rounds of cheers and there was the clinking of drinks meeting one another all around. Seth caught Harry's eyes for a moment and then motioned in the direction of the hallway. He waited until they were all done with toasting and settling back in to talk. Molly had just risen to fetch the desserts, a tall brown haired woman and Ginny trailing after to help her bring them out. It was distraction enough to slip away with the smallest non-verbal heads up to Ron and Hermione. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Harry pulling himself from his own group, claiming he had to go to the loo. Seth went a ways up the stairs, sitting on the top step and waiting for him there. It wasn't long before Harry appeared in the hall, noticing where he sat.

Almost nervously, Harry ascended the stairs, plopping down next to Seth.

"I made an arse of myself back there, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not alright, but I get it. There's a lot going on right now. You're on edge. And I know you love Luna and you don't trust Jake with her. But don't count Jake out yet. And don't do what you did in there again. Save your beef with Jake for in private. It's not fair to Luna to drag all of that into the open with all of your friends and family."

He held himself back from too much contact with Harry, allowing himself only to scoot closer so their sides were touching, nudging him with his shoulder. Thankfully, Harry got the hint that he wasn't mad at him and shot him a grateful smile. Seth was about to abandon his caution at touching Harry when they heard someone clear their throat from below. There Hermione stood nervously at the foot of the stairs.

And at her shoulder was Ginny.

"Luna said she was ready for the bachelorette party Harry," Hermione explained, her hands rubbing her belly in frantic circles, "We're supposed to fetch you, since you're the one who has the portkey to the secret location."

"Ah, yeah," Harry said. He'd gone rather stiff next to Seth, "Sure, I'll be down in a sec."

Hermione waddled off. Ginny hesitated, opening her mouth to say something, before closing it and trailing after her sister-in-law.

"You going to be alright?" Seth asked him.

"I don't know." Quicker than Seth could react, Harry had leaned forward and stolen a kiss. "But I already feel a bit better." The mischievous smile on his face faltered a bit. "Wish me luck?"

"Good luck Harry."

"Be back soon."

And then he was down the stairs and gone.

"Good luck," Seth said again to the empty hallway.

* * *

Nana: If anyone wants to have a Hate-on-Nana party, I'd be willing to host it and I'll even have party games! I'll be the pinata for the night.

There's no good explanation for the suckiness that has been the months I've gone without writing. Usually I'm in super writer mode over the summer, but I just haven't been feeling anything. This chapter? I woke up yesterday and suddenly knew how to write it after months of sitting infront of the computer staring blankly at the daunting white expanse of Word.

Sigh.

Hopefully, my brain is back from whatever slump vacation it put itself on.

My only comment on the chapter is that I am surprisingly pleased with how Ron came out. I am typically not a fan, so this is different.


	28. Alright

Alright (_You Know We're Gonna Be Alright_)

* * *

Bachelorette parties were typically a time for the bridal group to get the bride drunk and treat her to a harem of half naked men. This was a usually pretty easy thing pull off. Especially if one had magic. There was one thing that made this bride, and therefore the bachelorette party as well, completely different from your typical every day bride.

The bride was Luna Lovegood.

And Luna Lovegood wasn't typical in any sense of the term.

So Harry had to think outside the box a bit. The good news was that he was pretty good at thinking outside of the box. Even with how the wedding planning had been dumped so last minute into his lap, he could pull it off.

That was how he, Luna, Hermione and Ginny had found themselves transported to the heart of the Forbidden Forest where the more peaceful creatures were engaged in celebration of the summer solstice. They'd lost Luna the second everyone had their bearings. She'd joined the dance the unicorns, thestrals, hippogriffs and centaurs were engaged in. Pixies and fairies, usually unfriendly towards one another, flew in patterns together overhead. Gnomes ran underfoot, playing and rolling around. There were even snidgets, diricawls and a mooncalf or two coming in and out of the festivities, strange behavior for the normally shy creatures.

They greeted the human's joining with minor hesitation, but once they saw which humans had come, became much more easy going. Hermione quickly found a more quiet area and was conversing excitedly with a female centaur, pointing avidly up at different constellations in the sky, visible through the break of trees the grove had. Ginny had been pulled into the dance by Luna, Luna as graceful as ever while Ginny, though she stumbled, danced with vigor and enthusiasm that more than made up for it.

Harry couldn't take his eyes away from her.

Up until now, the woman he'd been seeing since he'd returned looked like the same one he'd left only a couple of years ago. Broken and hurting, only a shell of the beautiful girl she'd been when he'd fallen in love and married her. He'd still loved her with all of his heart when things had ended. It was because he still loved her that it tore him apart to leave, just as much as it did to stay and watch her waste away. He'd been terrified that leaving would just be taking the coward's way out of not having to watch the woman he loved die of depression and grief. Somehow, she'd managed to convince him things would get better if they were apart. Somehow, he'd signed the divorce papers and walked out the door. Somehow.

He'd believed after that first glimpse of her that leaving had done her no good. She still looked withdrawn, but as she danced, he saw that some life had returned to her. Something had changed. There had to have been something, because she couldn't really be so dead inside seeing her dance like this.

He had to know just what did that.

Their eyes met over the bonfire she danced around. She looked scared as she realized he was staring at her, beckoning her to come over. For a while after that, she ignored him, continuing to dance as he chatted pointlessly with a house elf that'd wandered into the celebration. Soon though, she met his eyes once more, looking a strange combination of resigned and determined. Looking to the unicorn she'd been facing, she bowed and stepped away from it, heading slowly in his direction. Ginny halted in front of him, long coltish limbs swaying uneasily.

"Hey Harry."

"Ginny," he greeted softly back.

"Didn't know you were coming."

"I didn't really know I was coming either. Not right away."

"Ah." Her left hand clasped around her arm, just above her elbow as she bit her lip, nervous. "So um, how have you been?"

"Alright."

"You look good," Ginny blurted out suddenly. Her eyes went wide and her mouth shut with a resounding click.

"You look better."

"I... yeah."

"I'm so sorry Ginny," Harry finally said, "For leaving."

"You said sorry so many times already Harry. We both did." In a moment of bravery neither of them expected, she reached out touched his face. "I shouldn't have sent you away."

"Yeah."

"I..." Ginny looked him in the eye, somehow more nervous than she'd seemed before. "Did things get better? After everything?"

"Yeah, they did."

"I heard you talking earlier. With that guy who looks like Jake."

Harry tensed.

"You did?" he asked, trying not to sound defensive.

"Was what you said true?"

His brows furrowed.

"I... yeah, I guess."

"Oh Harry," she said, her eyes watering. And suddenly, he had an armful of his crying ex-wife. "I'm so sorry. It's not fair, you having to do this."

"Um... what?"

"This!" Ginny exclaimed, looking up at him heatedly, "As if it wasn't hard enough for you to come back, but you're here for her wedding! It must be awful."

"Wait. Ginny, what are you talking about?"

"You love Luna but you're stuck watching as she marries someone else," Ginny said, both sad and strangely angry.

Harry stared blankly at her.

"Um..." He lent down a bit so he could look her in the eyes. "Why is the fact that she's getting married and that I love her upsetting _you_?"

"Because... Because..." Ginny faltered, frustrated, "It's not fair. After what I did to you, you're just getting your heart broken again by her."

He blinked. And then started to chuckle.

"Ginny! Stop. I think you've been misunderstanding the situation this entire time. I'm not _in __love _with Luna. I love her, but you know, as a sister. Like Hermione. I thought everyone knew that."

"But... what you said... and how you acted towards Jake. What about that?"

"What's going on with me and Jake is kind of complicated and actually has very little to do with Luna," Harry explained, barely holding back disbelief at what she'd been thinking. She gave him a look as if to say continue, so he obliged her, "I interfered in his angsty love triangle and basically gave the other guy a leg up in the competition for the girl he was in love with."

"How exactly did you interfere?"

"I um, might have facilitated the event of her becoming a vampire so she and her vampire husband could go ride into the sunset of their undead happily ever after. Or is it twilight instead of sunset? I dunno. Whatever vampire cliché it is you want to use in that kind of situation."

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed exasperatedly, smacking him on the arm.

She was smiling until she realized what she'd done and quickly withdrew her hand as if the surface of his arm had scorched her.

"Sorry."

"No, it's alright," Harry told her, shaking his head, "We shouldn't even be worrying about things like that. These last couple of years have been ridiculous, avoiding each other like the plague the way we have been. I hated it and I still hate it. And I want things to be okay someday."

"I don't know."

Her eyes, which had worked their way from staring fixedly on a point past his face returned to his eyes, dropped back to the forest floor.

"I know I can't just force things to be like they were before. And maybe we never will be okay with each other. But the least I can do is make sure you're okay on your own. You asked me if I was better. And I am. But what about you?"

She shifted nervously.

"I... I guess things are better Harry."

"You don't have to feel bad about being happy again Ginny."

"It's just..."

"It's just what?" His arm crept up, halfway through the motion of running through his hair before he stopped. He had to be calm for this. He needed to know. "Did you go back to playing quidditch? Have you, you know, found someone else?"

He felt as nervous as she looked, asking that. It really had been what he'd really been trying to say the entire time. Before he'd gotten caught up in apologizing and feeling sorry for himself and her. Ginny had never liked when he got down on himself, nor had she liked him beating around the bush. She preferred him to ask the hard questions of her just like she asked them of him. So he'd asked.

"Yes," she'd finally answered after a long pause.

"Do they make you happy?"

"I feel happy when I'm with them."

Ginny looked him in the eye and seemed surprised to find whatever it was she saw there. Sure, Harry admitted, there was sting in knowing she'd moved on. Ginny Weasley would always be his first love, and knowing that that chapter of their lives was finally and truly over, for both of them, made him sad. But the sadness paled in comparison to the relief. It was selfish of him, not wanting to be the cause of her unhappiness forever. He'd been walking around with this ever since Jamie had died. Fear that Ginny would never move on from him, that she'd spend the rest of her life miserable over him and thinking that she had failed him. And since meeting Seth and going through what that had resulted in, those fears had deepened. Why did he deserve Seth when Ginny didn't have someone just as special to help her either? He settled a hand wearily over his eyes.

"Good." To his embarrassment, he felt wetness on his hand, and pressed harder on his eyes to try and tilted his head back in an attempt to make it stop. "I'm really glad."

"Harry..."

He felt one of her small, calloused hands take his free one. For a long time they stood there, Harry trying to act as if he wasn't crying and Ginny just offering quiet warmth and understanding with her simple gesture.

"You're..." she started, "You're a big crybaby you know."

"Shut up," Harry muttered, though it didn't stop the choked laugh he made a minute after he'd said it.

"You're crying," Ginny teased lightly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I'm not crying," he protested, "I'm just..." The minute he sniffled, he knew it was pointless to keep denying it. "Fine. But it's only because I'm still tired and jet lagged. I wouldn't be so emotional otherwise"

"Uh-huh. Hey Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"You've found someone too right? I just... I have this feeling." She shook her head. "It's not a bad feeling. Just a feeling. And if it's right, then... good on you Harry. I shouldn't be the only here to find someone else."

"It's right. Your feeling," he clarified, "It's right. There is someone."

She smiled widely.

"Then I'm glad too."

"If this person and I..." he started hesitantly, his voice still wobbly from tearing up so suddenly, "If we never have children, would you be mad?"

For a second, he felt his heart go still as she pulled away from him and stared straight into his face.

"I know that that's why this happened to us..." Harry rushed out, unable to stop himself, "Because you thought I needed to be with someone who could give me kids. But that was never what I wanted. Not if it was without you. I wanted to be with someone I loved."

"You didn't..." Ginny swallowed, "You didn't just do this to prove a point, did you?"

"What?"

"You didn't just find someone who couldn't have children to prove you could be with someone and not have children to me did you?"

"No!" he denied immediately, horrified at what she was asking, "How could you think that?"

"I just needed to be sure Harry," she said finally, exhaling shakily, "Sometimes you get these really stupid ideas about proving something to someone." She took in his even more horrified look. "I know you Harry. I do know that you're usually not the type to go so far over something this... personal, to the both of us. I just needed to be sure."

"I still can't believe you'd even think that." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "You didn't answer me though. Are you mad?"

She shook her head quickly.

"I don't know how to feel. This is the first time we've talked in years. Dropping that on top of me after we just reconciled, during our mutual best friend's bachlorette party, is starting to feel like too much to handle all at once."

"Sorry," Harry apologized, "I'm really all-in when it comes to getting things off my chest."

"You're talking to someone who has known you since your second year of Hogwarts and was _your __wife. _I _know_." She sighed. "I'm not mad, at least, I don't think I am. Just overwhelmed. And starting to feel like _I_ should start crying now."

"Please don't," Harry begged, glancing fearfully over his shoulder, "I still don't know how to cope with crying girls and I think Hermione might come over here and murder me if you do. She's pregnant, you know. She can blame the hormones and get away with it."

Ginny rolled her eyes.

"All right. I won't cry. Just, leave me alone for a bit. Go dance with Luna, she needs a partner."

Both of them looked at Luna, who was doing some sort of complex dance that involved a lot of bending at the waist and jazz hands. When she noticed them looking, she stopped to wave, or jazz hand in their general direction, and then resumed her dancing. Ginny looked back at Harry.

"I just need some time to sort this. Please?"

"As long as it doesn't mean we won't be talking for another two years or so, anything you want," he said earnestly.

"Nothing so extreme. We'll talk again soon. Before the wedding ends at least. There's so much I missed telling you about."

"Same."

"You're really serious though." Ginny lifted her eyes to the patch of sky and stars showing through the trees. "About this person you're with. I mean if you weren't, you wouldn't have even told me."

"Yeah I am."

"Mmm," she hummed, "Go dance with Luna already. I'll head over to Hermione in a bit."

"All right." He smiled tenderly at her bent so he could kiss her temple. "Soon."

She nodded.

"Soon."

With that, he ambled over to Luna, feeling more than up to dancing with her himself.

* * *

AN: OH GOD.

This chapter. My heart and brain fought me over and over writing this chapter. But inspiration struck last night. That and I started listening to the song, "_I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You_" which strangely helped. That may have influenced the sheer amount of dancing Luna that was in this chapter. Oh happy day.


	29. Wolf

Wolf (_Cry to the Blue Corn Moon_)

* * *

Being a Quileute shifter came with certain quirks besides the obvious turning into a wolf the size of a horse. Their internal body temperatures ran so hot, they were like walking furnaces. Any physical wound short of fatal for a human was to be laughed at thanks to their healing factor. And with the way they metabolized, it took more booze than double the amount it took to give a normal person a lethal dose of alcohol poisoning to get pleasantly buzzed, let alone drunk.

However, they'd yet to contend with the likes of Firewhiskey.

Now Seth understood the general aspects of alcohol fairly well. It came from living on the Rez, where many of the adults drank heavily. No one looked sideways if they saw a teenager sipping a beer in front of the drugstore. His mother, however, was an exception to the rule. From the minute he and Leah understood words, she made it clear no child of hers drank while living under her roof. Leah was crazy enough to challenge their mother when she had still been a teenager and still with Sam. And had faced their mother's wrath. As far as Seth knew, she hadn't touched any since. It was a surprise and a relief, considering what she'd gone through in the last couple of years, that Leah hadn't decided to drown her sorrows in a bottle. He could only imagine how much worse she could've gotten.

Unlike Leah, he'd been comfortable not testing boundaries the way Leah had. There were plenty of opportunities to drink at parties on the Rez in the past and the adults never kept a close eye on who took what. He'd had an experimental glass once before he became a wolf and hated the taste and disliked the out of control feeling he'd had. And the throwing up. That sucked. No matter what his friends at school or the guys in the pack tried to say or do, he was done with alcohol and screw "acquiring the taste." Nothing short of an alpha order could make him and Sam wouldn't dare if he didn't want the Clearwater women to kill him dead.

All in all, he didn't like alcohol and honestly didn't like to be in the company of drunk people. Which was why being at this bachelor party for Jake was turning out to be annoying.

Ron, George, and another of their brothers, Ron had told him his name was Bill, had joined the bachelor party. George had suggested a creature bar he knew was owned by a veela just off of Hogsmeade, an idea they'd all agreed to (since it was their only one so far). Seth knew what veela were. Harry had let him talk to Gabrielle once and she'd talked his ear off about various things he'd immediately tried to forget. Usually information about the wizarding world was relevant to Seth, but he was almost positive that he didn't need to know about the newest dress robe trends or the many uses of crushed dragon scales for cosmetic potions.  
Seth glanced at Jake. Jake was like the big older brother he wished he had. He practically was family with the way he took care of Seth and Leah. Even when a lot of the pack had considered him the snot-nosed baby and Leah the frigid harpy bitch. (With Leah, he was under the impression that the reason she and Jake got along so well was because they'd both been drop kicked in the heart by the people they loved who loved other people more.) All in all, Jake was a really good guy and there wasn't much (unless it involved Harry in any way) that he wouldn't do for the guy.

So having to watch his inebriated pack brother cry into his pint of firewhiskey while a veela stripper wiggled her bottom in front of him was an excruciatingly pathetic experience to be witness to.

Somewhere in the back of his mind though, he was filing _Jacob Black, weepy drunk_, away for future black mail use.

The others had passed out many a round ago. If firewhiskey had reduced Jake to this, they'd stood no chance against being demolished by it. Bill did get an admirable mention however, seeing as he held out twice as long as brothers had. That and he'd been easier to look after than Ron and George had. Seth had been hard pressed to save the two from being crushed under the veela pyramid that had fallen on them. And to keep George from flirting with everything he breathed at, male, female and inanimate. (Well, now that he thought about it, maybe mirror counted as female since it was sentient and sassy, and flirted back.) So now he had three unconscious Weasleys and a drunk Jake which wasn't much help either.

Was it even legal for him to be in this kind of place anyway? He kept wondering about that one, because, yeah sure, he looked older thanks to the wolf thing as well, but, _Hello, sixteen here! In a strip joint!_There were plenty of other reasons why the situation was wrong, but he was done with dealing with reasons and right and wrong and why being the age he was made everything difficult. His life was a testament of trying to live within trying to live within other people's perceptions of right and acceptable. And of course not really succeeding.

But he was learning pretty quickly why exploiting life's loopholes was the true path to happiness.

Despite his mood, his lips quirked upwards a hair or two.

"Hey mate," the bartender, a female... some type of creature by what Seth was smelling, said, waving her hand at him over the bar to get his attention, "He's cut off for the night." She pointed at Jake. "You thinking about rounding up your lot and shipping out any time soon? Because I think you might need to fire call someone to help you get them all sorted."

He blinked at her, not really understanding what fire call meant.

Where was a handy magical world dictionary when you needed one?

"You know," she said, gesticulating a little more in a motion he assumed she thought made sense, "Fire, powder, pick who you're calling, stick your head in?" After another clueless blink, she scoffed disgustedly at him. "Oh come on. It's not like you're a mundane, you should know these things."

"Mundane? Don't you mean muggle?"

"Oh, that's right. Not many use the term mundane. It's this spiffy new politically correct word the ministry is trying to introduce for talking about non-magical folk. Though they're having a helluva time trying to break people of the habit of using muggle."

"Huh."

"So you. You with the whatever you are. How is it you don't know about fire calls?"

He fought the urge to flush as the woman eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm fairly new to wizarding world."

"It ought not be called wizarding world either," she mumbled to herself, "Not like it belongs to just wizards or nothing. Never mind that, getting carried away with my thoughts. You're new eh? Were you a mundane who got bit by a were or something? You kind of smell that way, and your heartbeat counts out vamp."

"Something like that," Seth answered ambiguously.

He was uncomfortable having her call him out like that, even if she wasn't completely right. It had been almost a year since he'd shifted, and yet she almost nailed what he was head on. How was it she could still smell that on him? He was tempted to ask what she was, since he didn't know how to discern any other species besides veela or vampire and she was neither.

"Whatever." She snorted. "If you tell me who you'd like called and their residence, I can make the call for you, luv."

"Um..." He ran through a mental list of people in Britain that could help him out. Harry would've been the first, then Hermione. Unfortunately, probability of either of them being free was low what with the bachelorette party. Working his way further down that short list, he was slowly realizing that none of the people he would've called could be called. They were all there with him drunk out of their minds or out at the bachelorette party doing who knows what. He was beginning to panic when the woman spoke up again.

"You know what, I'm going to assume, based on the fact that the hair of those three is a particularly eye scarring shade or red, that they're Weasleys and that I should just drop their folks a line." Taking in the confused and surprised look on his face, she snorted. "Now I really know you're new if you don't know just who you're partying with. Their family was famous for sidin' with Potter during the last war. Everyone and their mum know who the Weasleys are."

Hearing Harry's name, well, his last name, caused him to sit up the slightest straighter in interest, but he quickly quashed it. Let the lady get on with calling Molly or Arthur to come get them. She'd been, nice wasn't the right word, but she was snarky in a way that reminded him of Leah (and oh, there came the stab of unexpected homesickness) and he kind of thought that her multicolored hair was cool. The point, though, was that she was being fairly helpful to him when he was a complete stranger in her bar. It may have been because she just wanted the four rowdy drunks carted off or even that she was one of those types who got a bit over helpful around celebrities. Help was still help and he was pretty sure he couldn't get them home to the Burrow on his own, even if he tried to get them tied to his shifted form like saddle bags or something. So now wasn't the time to be distracting her with questions about Harry.

"Oi," she said, poking her head out from where she'd disappeared to, "Arthur Weasley answered. Says he'll come through in a bit to help you out."

"Oh. Thanks."

"Hey, so does the werewolf who runs with Weasleys have a name?"

"Yeah. It's Seth." Remembering some last minute manners, he stuck out his hand. "What's yours?"

"Queenie," she replied, with a warning glare.

His facial muscles twitched a bit, but he knew better than to react in a way that might suggest he was even thinking of mocking her name.

"Nice to meet you."

There was a loud sound of the fireplace flaring in the back and then a man came out from the back. It was Arthur, dusting himself off. He blinked owlishly at Queenie, then Seth, and then let his eyes trail over his sons, passed out at the counter on their stools. Jacob stopped crying for a moment to acknowledge the new arrival before returning to mournfully conversing with his libations.

"Hello, um..." Arthur started.

"Hey, I'm Seth," the shifter said, standing to properly introduce himself to Arthur, "I came with Jake and your sons for the bachelor's party. And I gave toast at the rehearsal too. Sorry you called out so late for this, but I'm no good with magical transportation and stuff."

Arthur gave him a warm understanding look and took the offered hand with his own.

"I'm Arthur, and it's no trouble," the Weasley patriarch said waving him off, "This isn't the first time I've been called to collect my inebriates from some tavern or another." He was quiet as he took stock of the situation again. "Apparating all of you will be a little tedious, so I think a portkey trip is in order."

There was a sudden rush of movement off to Seth's left that had him immediately shifting his attention from Arthur to Jake. Jake who was now growling lowly at whoever had just come up to the stretch of bar between them and made an order. A sickeningly sweet smell filtered into his nostrils and he groaned. He turned back to Arthur and Queenie quickly.

"I need to get him outside right now or things will get really bad in here. Can you get Ron and the others home on your own Arthur?"

Seth only waited long enough to see Arthur's head dip a bit in what he was going to assume was a nod before darting around the vampire and throwing himself at Jake. His friend had gone from growling to snarling and snapping at the vampire and at Seth. It wouldn't be long before he was biting and shifting right then and there. With all the strength, whatever the wolf allowed while in human form, he hauled Jake away from the bar and the vampire and threw him as far as he could in the direction he hoped was the backdoor exit. And it was. He just overcompensated how hard he needed to throw versus how drunk Jake was.

The sound of wood and glass breaking and a heavy _whump _coming from that direction had Seth wincing.

Property damage and public brawling.

Harry would be so proud.

* * *

He'd dashed out the gaping hole that was the doorway, following the glass shards that lined the trajectory of the throw. Jake wasn't too hard to find, lodged in a bush, swearing as he tried to pull himself out of it and throw himself at Seth. It wasn't really working. So far, Jake had gotten out of the bush but was falling all over himself. This was both a good and bad thing. He was too disoriented to pose too much of a threat to Seth if he did attack. But a drunk Jake with no control was bad for anyone who wasn't Seth right now. He needed to get Jake farther away and sober quick.

Making up a plan he hoped wouldn't get anyone maimed or killed (or cause more property damage) he went straight into executing his next move: shifting. It had been almost a year now, and the sensation of rippling skin being replaced with fur felt as alien as it did familiar. Four legs, paws, twitching ears and his tail swaying behind him.

Jake stood in front of him, hunched and heaving slow deliberate breathes. His eyes were straight on Seth. There was a minute more of a stare off making Seth wonder if he was doing his posturing wrong when Jake's form finally rippled and a russet wolf had taken his place. Seth had to fight his omega instinct to tuck tail and belly crawl away. The only way this was going to work was if he followed through with the challenge.

_Oh God, oh God, he's still huge as fuck ever and he's giving off those scary almost alpha vibes._

Despite those thoughts, he kept his tail up and his teeth bared.

And then it occurred to him that his thoughts were the only ones bouncing around in his mind. Why couldn't he hear Jake? Was... was it because of how long he hadn't shifted? Or maybe how long Jake had been out of range of the pack?

Either way, it was freaking him out. Never had he thought he'd feel anything other than relief that there was no one else in head the first time he shifted after being banned from it. But he did. He would've been more comfortable knowing Jake's next thoughts. For practical reasons, like predicting when the other wolf was going to make that inevitable lunge for the jugular so he could avoid it. And because how the hell was he supposed to figure out what was eating Jake and reason with him if he couldn't even get into his head?

Desperately, he locked eyes with Jake. It was a last ditch attempt, without the telepathic connection, to communicate something to Jake.

_I don't want to hurt you the day before your wedding but you're being an ass and if I have to, I'll take you down so no one gets hurt._

Not that Seth actually believed he could take Jake, but if Jake went back into that bar to try and kill that vampire, Queenie's bar would be trashed even worse and people would get hurt. There was no way he was going to let Ron, or Arthur, or the rest of the Weasleys or Queenie get caught up in this.

Jake chose to jump at him right then. Seth moved just off to the left, crouching low. The minute Jake was close, he surged upwards, throwing his body right into Jake's midsection. It sent the both of them flying long and far until they were just on the edge of woods that were surrounding the magical town. Jake hit a tree hard, which had Seth grimacing, but ignoring it and rolling off of the other wolf into another crouch, waiting for Jake to recover and face him again. It wasn't long before Jake was up again. The sight of a large wolf wobbling on its forelegs wasn't as funny as it was concerning because this was Jake and he still remembered how Jake had been hurt by that newborn when taking a hit meant for Leah. This was still Jake who was a friend, a very stupid friend and almost family.

He tried to catch his eyes again.

_Please back off. Please. _

But he didn't listen. Didn't hear. And then Jake was coming at him again. With less grace than his first move, he scrabbled and darted around Jake as he swiped teeth and claws at him. This continued for a long time, Jake keeping him on the defensive, leading him farther into the woods and away from the town. That was until he started slowing down and there were longer pauses between Jake's strikes. Waiting for a beat, Seth dropped to the floor just at Jake made a high dive, making him miss and sail overhead into another tree.

This time, Jake didn't get back up. He stayed where he landed on the ground. Hesitantly, Seth padded over, concerned. He butted his snout against Jake's as if to ask if he was okay. And then without warning, Jake was up and snapping, toppling Seth onto his back. All the air was pushed out of his lungs when the other wolf pounced, putting both forepaws on his chest and pressing down with all his weight. He yelped and tried to break free, but Jake had him pinned. All he could do now was bare his neck and hope Jake wouldn't hurt him too bad. He waited for Jake's teeth to sink into his neck but after the seconds and then minutes trickled by, he opened his eyes from when they'd closed in his expectant cringe. Jake had eased up the slightest so that Seth could still breathe, but was still hovering just over him. No teeth bared, his ears down, staring down at him.

That was when a buzz started going off in the back of his mind. He knew what it was like well enough to brace himself for it. Seth remembered the first time he shifted, same time as Leah, and all of a sudden every unfiltered thing she thought joined his own thoughts and someone else's voice came in and it had been scary, and confusing and then his dad...

God his dad.

But there was the buzz. Then suddenly all these thoughts and feelings and pictures and impressions pouring into his mind. He'd learned a long time ago to order his mind so he could differentiate between _mine _and _**theirs**__. _And right now, it was a whole lot of _theirs _or more specifically _**Jake's**__._

_**Packhomelost. Ignoredbetrayedfoughtlostran. Dad**__dad__**dad. Belladead. No. Misshatewantwhy? **__Harry.__** Traitortraitor. **__No. __**Oceancoldmagiclost. FoundmoonLuna**__Luna__**. BellaBellatook. Hetook. Dead. Yourfaultyourfault. **__Sorry.__** Misshatewant. Luna. Bella. Dad. Love. Packhome. Pack. Youmepack. **__Yes.__** Others? **__Not here. Just me. __**Challengefoughtlost. **__Yes, I lost.__** Iamalphanow. Whyattack? **__Danger. __**Leechkill. **_

_No. The vampire wasn't the danger. You were. _

_********__Confused. Leechnotdanger. Medangerhow_?

Not as coherent a thought process as he had hoped to reason with but beggars couldn't be choosers.

_If you had shifted in there, you would have hurt the people._

_**Therewasaleech.**_

_It wasn't attacking anyone. _

_**Leechesattack. Leecheskill. Bellaisdead.**_

_Bella isn't dead Jake._

_**Bellaisaleech. Bellaisdead.**_

_Haven't you seen in this world long enough to realize that how much your heart beats doesn't control who you are? Becoming a vampire changed Bella, made her heart stop, but she's still Bella._

He pushed memories of talking to Bella over the mirror through. Her telling him about how different life was. What it was like learning strength and impulse control. How much she missed Charlie.

How much she missed Jake.

_In this place, there are people who don't see vampires as any different than what we are. We're all just monsters to them._

_**Protectors. Notmontsers. **_

_But they think it anyway. You should know this. Luna should've told you these kinds of things._

Shame and regret.

_**Didn'tlisten. Didn'tcare.**_

_You're marrying her. A husband should care about what his wife cares about. Luna cares about these things. _

There was a long silence, so Seth pushed on.

_The point is, we're not monsters. And you refuse to believe that not all vampires are monsters either. And unlike other vampires, Bella chose what she became. No one could've chosen it for her. Not Edward, not Harry, not you. She chose it, and she's happy. And she'd be happier if she had her best friend too. When are you going to admit that this entire time, you've just been afraid? Afraid of losing her? When are you going to realize that whether or not you're a wolf and she's a vampire, whether or not she has a husband, if you don't give up on her and she doesn't give up on you, you'll never really lose each other?_

His final thoughts hung heaviest between them. There was an undercurrent of other things in their running sub-consciouses, but none of it mattered in comparison. He could hear Jake thinking. There was so much Bella in his thoughts, so much longing and anger and the fear he'd mentioned before interwoven in those thoughts. So much that Seth would've missed what Jake was trying to think directly at him if he hadn't also felt him finally getting up and off him.

_**Needtimetofigureout.**_

_Okay._

He understood. Not everyone had the answers and acceptance right away. If Jake needed time, it was the least Seth could try to offer him.

_**Wanttorun.**_

Over the connection, the younger wolf could feel how his pack brother had missed running the woods. In wolf form, out in the trees, Seth could feel it too.

_Can I come too?_

_**Packruntogether.**_

That was as much of a yes as he needed. Seth rolled back onto all fours just as Jake took off, bounding after him as quickly as his legs could carry him. He yipped joyfully as he felt the wind against his face. God, he really had missed this. Missed Jake, and shifting. He let those feelings go to Jake, who felt it and let the impression of affection through. Before he turned off all rational thought, he made sure to call Jake an ass again for causing the death of his clothing.

He got a barking laugh in response.

* * *

AN: So I'd been on a safari in the land of RL, and got lost along the river Job and attacked by the crazed indigenous term papers. The writing block monsoons didn't help much either. I fell into a dark place, where my only lifeline was netflix and marathoning old TV shows. So I turned to religion, like Merlin and Godstiel and the PTB and any higher power who would listen. I'm doing better now, I just need to keep at it. Keep calm and continue writing. Wish me luck.

(I apologize for not updating for so long. But I'm really going to try to hold onto this writing burst and ride it for as long as possible. And hopefully finish RRHTW. Not much longer now and it'll be done. As incentive to stay with me for just a while longer, I promise cameo appearances of both Bella and_ Edward_ -cackles-. And maybe one other Twilight character. Until then, a bientot!)


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